The Israeli navy arrested on Thursday morning two Palestinian fishermen while fishing off the northern Gaza Strip shores.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported in a statement that Israeli gunboats attacked Palestinian fishing boats in the morning while sailing off the Waha area northwest of the town of Beit Lahiya.
The Center noted that the Israeli gunboats opened fire at the Palestinian boats and captured one of them with two fishermen on board. The arrested fishermen are Mohammed Ghaleb Al-Sultan 25 and Orans Sharif Al-Sultan 21 from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Center asserted according to its field researchers that the Israeli navy forced the fishermen to take off their clothes jump in the water and swim towards the Israeli war boats where they were arrested.
He pointed out that the Israeli gunboats tried to sink the fishing boat by firing at it directly causing a serious damage but the fishermen who were in the area managed to reach the boat and pulled it towards the Gaza beach after about two hours of the incident.
The Center condemned the ceaseless Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen calling for an immediate end of the policy of hunting down the fishermen and allowing them to fish in the sea and practice their work freely.
The Center called for the release of arrested fishermen and compensating victims for the physical damage they suffered.
