Israeli navy detains Palestine fishermen off Gaza coast

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Israeli naval forces on Thursday arrested two Palestinian fishermen off the northern coast of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza’s fishermen’s union, told Anadolu Agency that Israeli naval vessels had “opened fire on a fishing boat carrying two Gazan fishermen".

The naval vessels then towed the boat -- and its two passengers -- to the Port of Ashdod in southern Israel, Ayyash said.

According to Palestinian figures, roughly 50,000 inhabitants of Gaza earn their living through fishing.

After Israel's 2014 onslaught against the Hamas-run Gaza Strip (in which more than 2,150 Palestinians were killed), Israel began allowing Palestinian fishermen to ply their trade up to six nautical miles off Gaza’s coast.

In May of last year, the Israeli authorities increased the limit to nine nautical miles.