3 Palestinian fishermen held off Gaza Strip coast

ANI  |  Middle East 

Three Palestinian fishermen were detained by Israeli naval forces off the coast of Strip on Saturday, a said.

Israeli gunboats opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats when they were sighted west of city and detained the three fishermen, quoted the of Gaza's fishermen union, Nizar Ayyash, as saying.

The has not released a statement on why the fishermen were detained.

Around 50,000 people in are engaged in fishing, which is their bread and butter for them amid the simmering crisis between Palestine and

On Friday, Israeli authorities allowed Gaza fishermen to resume fishing at a designated zone off the after it was suspended for a week following military escalations between and Gaza-based resistance groups.

Officials said that the fishing zone would be expanded to a maximum of 12 nautical miles after a ceasefire agreement was reached with the militant group.

Reportedly, and have mediated this truce. The deal was reached after agreed to ease the limits on the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza.

This comes as a major relief as both sides were recently engaged in rocket and missile firings which have killed 24 Palestinians and four Israeli officers so far.

The claimed that Gaza ruled by and jihadi elements has fired around 600 rockets and other projectiles in southern Israeli cities, adding that, in retaliation, it targetted more than 250 targets belonging to Gaza militants.

Amid the escalating tensions, Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicating to launch attacks on Gaza while doing his electioneering, had said that he ordered the military to continue "massive strikes" against Gaza.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sun, May 12 2019. 06:02 IST