Israeli navy kidnaps four Palestinian fishermen at sea

[ 20/01/2011 - 10:19 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- The ministry of agriculture in Gaza Strip said that the Israeli navy gunboats kidnapped four Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Khan Younis, south of the Strip, at a late hour on Wednesday night. The ministry's fishery department said in a statement on Thursday that the Israeli navy attacked the fishermen, three of them brothers, aboard a small fishing boat while fishing off the coast and took them along with their boat to an unknown destination. It said that the attacks on fishermen at sea had recently escalated, noting that the Israeli occupation harasses fishermen with the start of every new fishing season. The occupation allows Gaza fishermen to operate only three nautical miles off the coast and even stalks them there, it pointed out. The ministry held the Israeli occupation authority fully responsible for the lives of those fishermen, urging the Red Cross and human rights institutions to immediately intervene to demand the release of the fishermen and their equipment. It said that pressures should be made on the IOA to allow more space for fishermen and expand their fishing area to six nautical miles at least. -------- 4 Palestinian fishermen briefly detained Published today (updated) 20/01/2011 22:48 GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israeli ships ordered a boat of four fishermen to disembark Wednesday and detained the crew upon boarding, Ministry of Agriculture officials in Gaza said. The ministry says three of the detainees are brothers, identified as Ahed, Nidal, and Ahmad Muhammad Abul Kheir. The fourth was identified as Muneer Sa’eed Al-Amoudy. An Israeli military spokeswoman said that naval patrols identified a fishing vessel "deviating from the fishing area" and called on the boat to turn back. When the boat failed to comply, she said it was captured and the crew taken for questioning. All four were released on Thursday morning, she said.