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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli naval forces detained four Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip and seized their fishing boats on Thursday.

Nizar Ayyash, Head of the Gaza Fishermen Union, told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces opened fire at four Palestinian fishermen as they were working within the permitted fishing zone off the coast of northern Gaza.

Ayyash confirmed that Israeli naval forces detained the four fishermen and were taken to an unknown location.

Israeli naval forces also seized the fishing boats, which they sailed towards the Israeli Ashdod seaport.

Ayyash identified the detained fishermen as Muhammad Zayid along with his son Tamer, Tawfiq al-Sultan and Raafat al-Sultan.

This incident came after Israel lifted restrictions on the besieged Gaza Strip on Wednesday, which included expanding the fishing zone from the shore to nine nautical miles from the current three.

However, according to the Oslo agreement of 1993, it allows fishing up to 12 nautical miles.