The Israeli occupation navy kidnaped on Wednesday morning four Palestinian fishermen as they were working aboard a boat off the northern coast of the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to local sources Israeli naval soldiers aboard gunboats kidnaped four Gazan fishermen after encircling a fishing boat they were aboard off the shore of al-Waha area.
The naval forces also confiscated the fishermen’s boat and fishing gear.
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.
