GAZA, Wednesday, February 05, 2020 (WAFA) – Israeli navy Wednesday morning attacked Palestinian fishermen offshore al-Sudaniya area, northwest of Gaza city, according to  WAFA correspondent.

He said that the Israeli naval boats opened gunfire and shot water hoses towards fishing boats sailing within three nautical miles offshore al-Sudaniya, causing material damages.

No injuries were reported among the fishermen, who fled to the shore for fear of being injured .

Earlier this morning, Israel fighter jets pounded a post located to the west of Khan Younis.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas won the elections and took over power in the strip in 2007, denying the impoverished enclave’s two million population their basic rights and causing a decline in their standard of living coupled with unprecedented rates of unemployment and poverty.

Under the Oslo Accords signed in 1993, Israel is obligated to permit fishing up to 20 nautical miles, but this has never been implemented.

Israel maintains a heavy naval presence, restricting any traffic in and out of the enclave, and s the distance Gaza’s fishermen can travel to fish, severely affecting the livelihoods of some 4,000 fishermen and at least 1,500 more people involved in the fishing industry.

K.F.