Date: 16-12-2009
Source: AFP
| Israel arrested five fishermen off the coast of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday after gunboats surrounded their vessel, according to witnesses and a Palestinian security official. A spokeswoman said the Israeli military was looking into the report. Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza off from all but limited humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007. As part of the blockade, Israel prevents fishermen from venturing more than five kilometres (three miles) offshore, even though a 2002 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority set the boundary at 22 kilometres (13.5 miles). Before the embargo, some 3,500 fishermen plied their trade off Gaza's 40-kilometre (25-mile) Mediterranean coastline, with around 30,000 people relying on the fishing industry. |
