Israeli forces detain 2 Palestinian fishermen off Gazan coast

April 24, 2016 1:00 P.M. (Updated: April 24, 2016 5:08 P.M.)

 

GAZA (Ma'an) -- Israeli naval forces on Sunday morning detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip and seized their fishing boat, local sources told Ma'an.

Locals told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces opened fire on fishing boats, and detained Oranus al-Sultan and Ibrahim al-Sultan and took them to an unknown location. The sources added that Israeli forces seized fishing equipment and the boat.

As part of Israel's near-decade long blockade of the coastal enclave since 2007, Palestinian fishermen have been required to work within a limited "designated fishing zone" off the coast, which was recently extended to nine nautical miles.

Israeli forces regularly detain Palestinian fisherman off the coast of Gaza working within the fishing zone, generally for alleged security reasons.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Israeli forces detained 71 fishermen and confiscated 22 fishing boats throughout 2015.

The center said that Israeli naval forces also opened fire on Palestinian fishermen at least 139 times over the course of the year, wounding 24 and damaging 16 fishing boats.

"These attacks occurred in a time where the fishers did not pose any threat to the Israeli naval troops, as they were doing their job to secure a living," the center said.