Zionist-puppet Egyptian regime navy shoots, wounds Palestinian fisherman off Rafah

The Egyptian Navy Forces opened fire Saturday morning at Palestinian fishermen off Rafah shores to the south of Gaza Strip. One injury was reported during the attack.

An Egyptian naval boat directly targeted a Palestinian fishing boat while sailing in Palestinian waters off Rafah, a town that straddles the Gaza-Egypt borders, chairman of the Gaza Fishermen Association Nizar Ayyash said.

The wounded fisherman Ali Samir al-Bardawil was transferred to hospital after being hit with two bullets in his hand and abdomen.

Ayyash strongly condemned the attack, expressing surprise at targeting Palestinian fishermen in the Palestinian territorial waters.

Similar attacks and arrests carried out by Egyptian and Israeli naval forces have escalated recently against Palestinian fishermen, he pointed out.

Under Israel’s illegal occupation, Palestinian families are severely deprived of a vital food source because of Israel’s illegal restrictions placed on access by fishermen to the Palestinian territorial waters off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli naval blockade imposed through the use of live fire, harassment, and unlawful arrests and arbitrary detention has brought Gaza’s fishing industry to the brink of collapse, bringing the number of working fishermen from approximately 10,000 in 1999 to less than 3,200 today.