GAZA, February 27, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli navy boats Saturday resumed its attacks – in a blatant violation of a 2014 truce agreement – against Palestinian fishermen sailing within the unilaterally designated allowed fishing zone offshore the city of Gaza.
WAFA correspondent said that Israeli navy soldiers opened heavy machine gunfire on fishermen’s boats, despite sailing within the six-nautical- mile allowed fishing zone offshore the northwest of Gaza city.
No injuries were reported among fishermen who apparently fled the scene for fear of being detained, inured, or killed.
The current six-nautical-mile fishing zone falls drastically short of the twenty nautical miles allocated to Palestinian fishermen in the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Israeli navy targets Gaza fishermen almost on a daily basis, in a blatant breach of a ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in august 2014, following 51 days of bloody aggression on the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of over 2.200 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), all Israeli attacks on Palestinian fishermen have taken place within the distance of six nautical miles, which it said “proves that Israeli forces‘ policies aim to tighten restrictions on the Gaza Strip‘s fishermen and their livelihoods.”
Israel has imposed a tightened blockade since 2007 after Hamas won the democratic legislative election and took over power in the Strip.
According to OCHA weekly report covering the period between 16 and 22 of February 2016 , “At least 21 incidents involving Israeli forces opening warning fire at Palestinian civilians in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) on land and sea in the Gaza Strip were recorded, none of which resulted in casualties.”
T.R.
