By Said Amouri
JERUSALEM (AA): At least one Palestinian fisherman was killed and two others injured when Israeli Navy opened fire at a fishing boat off Gaza’s coast, Israeli media reported.
Two Israeli soldiers were also injured in the incident, broadcaster Channel 2 reported, without explaining the nature of the injuries.
An Israeli army spokesman, quoted by the channel, said the fishermen had crossed the designated fishing zone.
Head of Syndicate of Palestinian Fishermen Nizar Ayyash said that the three fishermen were aboard a fishing boat, on their way back to the port, when the Israeli gunboats opened fire at them.
“All of them were directly targeted,” he said, noting that all of them, including the one who was killed, were abducted by the navy.
While he did not know the reason why the Israeli naval forces had opened fire on the men, Ayyash stressed that they did not cross the fishing limit defined by the Israeli occupation.
He added that the firing injured three fishermen, of which one was later pronounced dead.
The fishermen were taken to Barzilai Hospital in Israel’s southern Ashkelon city, he said.
Medical Sources identified the slain fisherman as Ismael Saleh Abu Ryala, 18, from Shati’ refugee camp, west of Gaza city.
The wounded fishermen have been identified as Mahmoud Adel Aby Ryala, 18, and ‘Aahed Hasan Abu Ali, 26, who were both abducted by the navy.
The navy fired a barrage of live fire at their boat, wounding the three, and later said one of them died from his wounds.
Other fishermen who were nearby managed to tow the boat back to shore.
According to a Gaza-based fishermen’s union, roughly 50,000 Gazans earn their living from fishing.
After Israel’s devastating military onslaught against Hamas-run Gaza in mid-2014, in which some 2,150 Palestinians were killed, Israel began allowing Palestinian fishermen to fish up to six nautical miles off the Gazan coast, as opposed to three nautical miles previously.
Last May, Israeli authorities increased the fishing area for Gazan fishermen to nine nautical miles.
Additional report from imemc.org
[Photo of Ismael Saleh Abu Ryala, 18, shot dead by Israeli Navy in Gaza waters. Photo by imemc.org]
