Israeli Naval ships attacked, on Saturday morning, Palestinian fishermen in two separate areas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, local sources reported.
Occupation Navy ships opened fire with live rounds and high velocity water cannons at Palestinian fishing boats that were sailing in the “Al-Sudaniyya area” northwest of Gaza City in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.
No injuries were reported, however the fishermen were forced to go to shore, abandoning a day of work, the main livelihood for many Palestinians in Gaza.
Meanwhile, off the coast of Rafah, in southern Gaza, Navy ships fired water cannons at fishing boats, coercing the fishermen to leave their work and exit the sea.
On a regular basis, the occupation Navy shoots at and abducts Palestinian fishermen, in addition to confiscating and/or damaging their boats.
The Gaza Strip, a tiny coastal enclave, isolated from the West Bank, has been under a brutal Israeli blockade of the air, land, and sea, for the past sixteen years.
More than two million people live in Gaza with limited fresh water and electricity, in addition to a high rate of unemployment and poverty.
“The Gaza Strip is the scene of a humanitarian crisis that has nothing to do with natural causes; it is entirely man-made, a direct result of official Israeli policy.” – B’Tselem
