One injured in Israeli fire on Palestinian fishermen off Gaza

Israeli naval forces have injured at least one Palestinian fisherman after attacking a number of boats off the northern coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, local media reports say.

Palestine’s official Wafa news agency quoting sources reported that the assault occurred near al-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City on Thursday when the fishermen were sailing within six nautical miles from Gaza’s shore.

The injured man was rushed to a nearby hospital to receive necessary medical treatment.

Palestinian fishermen come under Israeli attacks on almost a daily basis and those who get close to the fishing limit get shot or detained by the Israeli navy.

Israel regularly shoots and detains Gazan fishermen over allegations of crossing the “designated fishing zone,” which is practically three nautical miles.

Under a ceasefire agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians following the deadly Israeli war in August 2014, Tel Aviv agreed to immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, allowing Palestinian fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles off the shore. The agreement also stipulated that Israel would expand the area gradually up to 12 miles.

Currently there are some 4,000 fishermen in the blockaded coastal land and only hundreds of them fish regularly as they fear being shot or arrested by Israeli naval forces.

The fishing sector has traditionally been the sole source of income for thousands of families across the impoverished coastal region. Some 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza make a living directly or indirectly from fishing.

Israeli attacks have made it nearly impossible for most fishermen to make ends meet.

Statistics show that Gaza’s fishery has sharply declined since 2007 due to Israeli naval attacks and restrictions imposed on the fishing areas.

Experts say the Israeli blockade remains the root cause of hardships affecting every aspect of life in the impoverished coastal enclave.