GAZA, July 27, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli navy on Wednesday morning detained two Palestinian fishermen offshore the town of Beit Lahiya, north of Gaza, according to local sources.

Israeli naval boats attacked with gunfire several Palestinian fishing boats while sailing offshore Beit Lahiya, before they detained two of them. The two detainees were identified as Mohammed Yasin Zayed and Tareq Sultan.

There were no reports of injuries.

Israeli navy and troops routinely open fire on Palestinian fishermen sailing within the six-nautical-mile zone and farmlands along the border, flagrantly violating the ceasefire deal that was reached in August 2014.

The current six-nautical-mile fishing zone falls drastically short of the twenty nautical miles allocated to Palestinian fishermen in the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) documented during June alone 10 shooting incidents that resulted in the wounding of four Palestinian fishermen while sailing off Beit Lahia shore in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Noting lack of Israeli naval forces’ compliance with the ceasefire agreement concluded between Israel and Palestinian armed groups under Egyptian auspices on 26 August 2014, including allowing Palestinian fishermen to sail within six nautical miles in the Gaza Sea, PCHR reported that all attacks took 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.

M.N