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GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinian fishermen were detained by Israeli naval forces on Sunday off the coast of the northern besieged Gaza Strip.
Nizar Ayyash, the boat captain, told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces detained two fishermen as they were working along the northern Gaza Strip coast and were taken to an unknown location.

The two detained fishermen were identified as Owrans al-Sultan and Hassan al-Sultan.

Ayyash added that Israeli naval forces also confiscated their fishing boat.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces opened fire towards Palestinian shepherds, north of Rafah district in southern Gaza. Reasons for the shooting remained unknown.
No injuries were reported among the shepherds.

The Israeli army regularly detains and opens fire at unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas if they approach the unilaterally declared buffer zone.

The practice has in effect destroyed much of the agricultural and fishing sector of the blockaded coastal enclave, which has been under an Israeli air, land, and sea blockade for nearly 12 years.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem recently concluded that Israel’s Gaza closure and “harassment of fishermen” have been “destroying Gaza’s fishing sector,” with 95 percent of fishermen living below the poverty line.

The Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) issued its annual report for 2017 showing Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen in the besieged Gaza Strip, highlighting that “these attacks deny fishermen from practicing their fishing work and accessing their livelihood resources.”