Gaza: Two Palestinian fishermen were arrested by the Israeli naval forces Saturday in the northern Gaza waters, official sources said.
The Israeli naval forces opened fire at a fishing yacht in the northern Gaza waters, then stopped it and arrested the two fishermen, chairman of the Gaza Fishermen Association Nizar Ayyash said, according to a Xinhua report.
“After tonight’s incident, the number of fishermen who had been detained climbed to 20 since a ceasefire was reached in Gaza Aug 26,” said Ayyash.
Israel said it carried out the arrests to prevent the smuggling of arms from abroad into the coastal enclave.
Earlier Wednesday, a Palestinian fisherman was seriously injured after being shot by Israeli naval soldiers.
Around 3, 000 Gaza fishermen usually complain of being targeted by the Israeli naval forces while they are fishing.
At the end of a 50-day large-scale Israeli air and ground operation Aug 26, Egypt brokered a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Gaza militant groups.
According to a report in Haaretz, the ceasefire deal also calls for expanding the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast from three nautical miles to six.
The Palestinians have complained however, that Israel have never stopped to violate the ceasefire agreement.