Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Sunday that Israeli Navy gunboats fired on Sunday at Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza Strip shores and destroyed several boats. No injuries were reported. Eyewitnesses reported that the Navy gunboats and vessels fired several shells and opened machine gunfire at Palestinian fishing boats at the Tal Al Sultan Beach, west of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Navy repeatedly fire shells at Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza Store, and claim that they were too close to the ‘Israeli’ waters, or that the boats were attempting to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Palestinian families in Rafah depend on fishing as their main source of livelihood. However, since the outbreak of the Al Aqsa Intifada in late 2000, Israel has barred the residents from fishing, then limited their fishing time to certain times and dates.
So far, a significant number of fishermen have been killed, injured or abducted in several similar shelling and shooting incidents.
