The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire and destroyed on Saturday morning a Palestinian fishing boat off the shore of Rafah area in the south of the besieged Gaza Strip.

The fishermen syndicate said that a fishing boat was destroyed and sank after an Israeli gunboat fired machinegun rounds at it during its presence off the coast of Rafah.

Palestinian fishermen are daily subjected to Israeli gunfire arrests and robbery of their boats as well as other violations.

Since the start of the year 19 fishermen were injured 45 arrested including 6 children and 15 fishing boats were damaged during similar attacks.

Four thousand Palestinian fishermen are working in Gaza Sea using 1300 fishing boats according to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bombed and destroyed on Wednesday morning a Palestinian fishing boat off the shore of Rafah area in the south of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Local rights activist Zakariya Bakr said that a fishing boat went up in flames and sank after an Israeli gunboat fired machinegun rounds and projectiles at it during its presence off the coast of Rafah.

He added that there was no information about the fate of the fishermen who were aboard the boat.

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.