The three Gazan fishermen who died in an explosion in Gaza waters last Sunday were killed by a sunken Israeli quadcopter carrying an explosive device the Palestinian interior ministry affirmed on Thursday.
The ministry said that it had conducted an investigation into three possible reasons before arriving at this conclusion. These possibilities are a test rocket launched by the resistance hitting the boat the direct targeting of the boat by the Israeli occupation navy and an accidental explosion by an Israeli unexploded object left in the sea.
The investigation found that the boat carrying the fishermen was “completely outside the range of the resistance rocket fire” and that eyewitness testimony and footage also excluded the possibility that Israeli forces had attacked the boat on that day.
The investigation which was conducted by both the interior ministry and the armed wing of Hamas found that about half an hour before the explosion two other fishermen found a similar Israeli quadcopter in their nets and handed it over to the maritime police.
An explosive device was found attached to that impounded quadcopter the interior ministry explained.
According to the ministry the remains of another quadcopter was found in the fishing net of the three dead fishermen and was found to be completely identical to the one found by the other fishermen.
The forensic report on the three fishermen found that they were killed by a severe explosive shock by a non-fragmentation device as no metal fragments were found in their bodies. The explosive device reportedly found on the other quadcopter matched this description.
The interior ministry in Gaza released an animated video simulating the incident.
A spokesman for the ministry has held Israel fully responsible for the death of the three fishermen off the shore of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on March 7 2021.
“We call on all international institutions and bodies to work on providing protection for Palestinian fishermen in the sea of the Gaza Strip who are constantly exposed to attacks and violations by the Israeli occupation” the spokesman said.
