The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked on Saturday evening Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the northern coast of the besieged Gaza Strip.
Local sources said that Israeli gunboats fired machine guns and tear gas canisters at fishing boats during their presence within a few nautical miles off the shores of al-Waha and as-Sudaniya areas in northern Gaza.
They added that the gunboats also attacked some fishing boats with water cannons forcing all the fishermen in the area to return ashore.
Recently there has been a sharp rise in attacks on fishermen by the Israeli occupation navy in Gaza waters.
Fishermen and their syndicate have been reporting for a while an uptick in the number of boat seizures gunfire incidents arrests and assaults on fishermen including children.
Such Israeli restrictions in Gaza’s territorial waters curtail fishermen’s ability to fish and make a living to support their families.
Israel’s decades of control over Gaza’s territorial waters have had an adverse impact on the lives and livelihoods of fishermen their families and others in the fishing sector and on the economy as a whole.