Israel attacks Gaza farms, fishermen as settlers defile al-Aqsa mosque

Gaza City, November 29 (RHC)-- Israeli forces have launched multiple attacks on fishermen off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, while dozens of extremist Israeli settlers escorted by military desecrate the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied al-Quds.

The Palestinian Information Center reported that Israeli naval forces opened fire on fishermen and their boats off the shores of different areas of Gaza early Sunday.  Local sources said the Israeli naval gunboats attacked fishermen off the shores of as-Sudaniya and al-Waha area in the northwest of Gaza, as well as off the coast of Gaza City and central Gaza.

Over the past few years, Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of attacks on Palestinian boats, arresting dozens of fishermen and confiscating several boats.

Under a ceasefire agreement reached between Israelis and Palestinians following a deadly 50-day Israeli war in August 2014, Tel Aviv agreed to immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast, allowing Palestinian fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles off the shore.

Under the Oslo peace accords, the fishing zone is supposed to extend to 20 nautical miles, but it has shrunk over the years as the Tel Aviv regime has imposed greater restrictions.

The Israeli soldiers also opened machinegun fire at swaths of agricultural land in the east of al-Fakhari town in the east of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.