Israeli forces fired live ammunition toward Palestinian farmers east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday. In addition, Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in northwestern Gaza, forcing the fishers to return to shore.
According to local sources, the gunfire in southern Gaza came from Israeli soldiers stationed at watchtowers on the Gaza-Israel border near Khan Younis. When the soldiers saw farmers working their lands east of Khan Younis, they began firing, forcing the farmers to leave their land.
In northern Gaza, local sources reported that Palestinian fishing boats which were within the allowed ‘nautical security zone’ established by Israel were fired upon by Israeli naval ships.
The Israeli navy fired on the unarmed fishers despite an understanding reached last week that Palestinians could fish up to 12 nautical miles out in the Gaza Sea.
The fishers who were targeted were only 2 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
The attack on Palestinian fishers comes the same day that Egyptian authorities released four Palestinian fishermen who were abducted five days ago.
A security source at the Rafah crossing confirmed that the Egyptian authorities released Mounir Abu Salima and three brothers: Musab, Rafat and Khalid Khalil Qanan through the Rafah crossing.
The release of the fishermen came after a negotiation between the Interior Ministry in Gaza and the Egyptian security delegation.
The four had been abducted on Tuesday morning, when Egyptian naval boats invaded Palestinian waters in the southern Gaza Strip, 250 meters inside Palestinian waters of Rafah.
