Israel detains Palestinian fishermen off Gaza coast

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israeli naval forces Thursday morning detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources inside the blockaded enclave.

"Israeli occupation forces picked up two fishermen some 3 miles [almost 5 kilometers] off the coast," Gaza’s maritime police authority said in a statement.

“The Israelis confiscated their boats and equipment,” it added, identifying the pair as Khader al-Saidi and Rajab Abu Riala.

The Israeli military, for its part, has yet to comment on the assertions.

After Israel’s devastating military onslaught against Hamas-run Gaza in mid-2014 (in which some 2,150 Palestinians were killed), Israel began allowing Palestinian fishermen to ply their trade up to six nautical miles off the coast of the strip, as opposed to three nautical miles previously.

According to the Gaza-based Fishermen’s Union, roughly 50,000 Gazans earn their living from fishing.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip’s roughly 2 million inhabitants have groaned under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has deprived them of many basic commodities, including food, fuel, medicine and building materials.

According to a 2015 World Bank report, the decade-long blockade has cut Gaza’s gross domestic product in half and led to one of the world’s highest unemployment rates.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has described the blockade -- imposed by Israel after Hamas swept 2006 Palestinian legislative polls -- as "collective punishment".