Israeli naval forces detain 2 fishermen in northern Gaza

The Israeli army naval forces arrested on Monday night two Palestinian fishermen who were fishing in the Mediterranean sea in northern Gaza Strip, the official source said.

Nizar ayyash, chairman of the Gaza-based fishermen union told Xinhua that the Israeli naval vessels surrounded a fishing boat in the middle of the sea after opening fire at it and arrested two fishermen were on it.

He said that the Israeli army forces forced the two fishermen to sail with their boat up to Ashdod sea port in Israel, tool the two to detention and confiscated their fishing boat.

There was no immediate Israeli army response to the incident. However, Israel is imposing a tight blockade on the ground, the air and the sea of the densely populated coastal enclave since Hamas violent takeover of the territory in 2007.

Israel claims that it arrests Palestinian fishermen into the sea of the Gaza Strip because they are allegedly accused for smuggling weapons to militants who carry out attacks against Israel.

Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official called on the United Nations to open an investigation to the Israeli holding of 55 bodies of Palestinians who were shot dead since early October in the West Bank.

Israel is still holding the bodies of 55 Palestinians who were shot dead by Israeli troops' gunfire during the wave of violent tension that broke out against Israel in the Palestinian territories in early October.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 129 Palestinians, including 25 children and five women were killed since October 3 in what has been widely described as a popular unrest in light of Israel's attempts to divide al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews. Endit