Israeli warships open fire at fishermen near Rafah

published by Tom Sullivan on Tue, 2014-08-12 21:17

Israeli warships on Tuesday opened fire at fishermen off the coast of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in an apparent violation of an agreed-upon three-day ceasefire, a union official said.

Nizar Ayyash, spokesman for Gaza's fishermen union, told Ma'an that a number of Palestinian fishermen were near the shore when Israeli forces shot at them with machine guns.

No injuries were reported.

Ayyash said Israeli naval forces had been preventing fishermen from fishing in the area, even within the "authorized fishing zone."

An Israeli army spokeswoman said a Palestinian motorboat in the area had "breached the naval military closure," and that Israeli naval soldiers "fired warning shots into the air."

Source and full story: Ma'an News Agency, 12 August 2014