The Israeli navy on Sunday morning attacked Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the coast of Gaza City with machine guns and water cannons.

A reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) said that Israeli naval forces opened machinegun fire at fishing boats and used water cannons to swamp them during their presence off the shores of al-Sudaniya area northwest of Gaza City.

The reporter added that the wanton attack forced the fishermen to return ashore

Israeli naval forces and their gunboats are around Gaza fishermen almost every day harassing them shooting at them damaging their boats and making arrests. Sometimes fishermen are injured or killed during gunfire attacks.

Under the 1993 Oslo accords Palestinian fishermen are permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza but since then Israel has kept reducing the fishing area gradually to a limit between six to three nautical miles as part of its blockade on Gaza.

Fishermen and human rights groups also say that since the 2008-09 war in Gaza the Israeli army has been regularly enforcing a limit even closer to the shore.

The Israeli occupation navy on Sunday morning attacked Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the northern shores of the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to local sources Israeli gunboats tried to capsize fishing boats and showered them with skunk water.

The attack forced the fishermen to return ashore but luckily no one was hurt.

Israeli naval forces and their gunboats are around Gaza fishermen almost every day harassing them shooting at them damaging their boats and making arrests. Sometimes fishermen are injured or killed during gunfire attacks.

Under the 1993 Oslo accords Palestinian fishermen are permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza but since then Israel has kept reducing the fishing area gradually to a limit between six to three nautical miles as part of its blockade on Gaza.

Fishermen and human rights groups also say that since the 2008-09 war in Gaza the Israeli army has been regularly enforcing a limit even closer to the shore.

The Israeli occupation army on Thursday morning opened machinegun fire at Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources said that Israeli gunboats opened fire at fishing boats off the shores of al-Sudaniya and al-Waha areas in northern Gaza.

They added that the gunboats chased some fishing boats amid intensive gunfire forcing them to return ashore.

Israeli gunboats are around Gaza fishermen almost every day harassing them shooting at them damaging their boats and making arrests. Sometimes fishermen are injured or killed during gunfire attacks.

Under the 1993 Oslo accords Palestinian fishermen are permitted to fish up to 20 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza but since then Israel has kept reducing the fishing area gradually to a limit of three nautical miles as part of its blockade on Gaza.

Fishermen and human rights groups also say that since the 2008-09 war in Gaza the Israeli army has been regularly enforcing a limit even closer to the shore.

The Israeli occupation navy on Tuesday evening opened machinegun fire at Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the coast of the embattled Gaza Strip.

Israeli gunboats opened fire at fishing boats off the northern and southern coasts of northern Gaza and forced fishermen to return ashore according to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reporter in Gaza.

The naval forces also fired some flares during the gunfire attacks on boats.

Despite their keenness on working within the permitted fishing zone to avoid getting injured killed or arrested Gaza fishermen are exposed every once in a while to persecution shooting and detention by the Israeli navy.

The Israeli occupation navy on Saturday evening opened machinegun fire at Palestinian fishermen and their boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip with no reason.

Local sources said that the gunfire attack forced the fishermen to quickly return ashore adding that no one was hurt in the shooting.

They added that the fishermen were working within the permitted fishing zone.

The Israeli occupation authority announced recently that it would expand the designated fishing zone off the shores of Gaza for the upcoming fishing season.

The decision will increase the fishing area from six to nine nautical miles and will go into effect on November 1 and expire about two months later according to the Israeli media.