Israeli navy attacks, injures Palestinian fishermen off Gaza

Gaza (QNN) – For the second day in a row, Israeli navy opened fire today at Palestinian fishermen off the northern Gaza shore injuring two of them, according to the Gaza Fishermen Federation.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said Israeli navy chased Palestinian fishing boats in the northern Gaza coast to force them to return to shore and opened fire at them injuring two fishermen with rubber-coated metal bullets. They were taken to hospital in Gaza where they were reported in moderate condition.

The Israeli navy also shot and injured a fisherman yesterday with a rubber bullet in the same location.

Israeli navy chase of fishermen is an almost a daily occurrence.

As part of its 13-year-long stifling blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel bans Palestinian fishermen from sailing more than three nautical miles in the northern Gaza shores, and sometimes even less than that.

Fishing is one of the main sources of income for hundreds of families in the impoverished Gaza Strip.