By Nour Abu Aisha and Hani al-Shaer
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Israeli naval forces arrested 10 Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to a Palestinian spokesman.
“The fishermen were detained while fishing south of the Gaza Strip,” Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza’s fishermen union, told Anadolu Agency.
He said three fishing boats had also been confiscated by Israeli forces.
There was no comment from the Israeli military on the arrests.
According to the fishermen union, roughly 50,000 Gazans earn their living from fishing.
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 fish up to six nautical miles off the Gaza coast, as opposed to three nautical miles previously.
Last May, Israeli authorities increased the fishing area for Gazan fishermen to nine nautical miles.