Israeli naval forces arrest 2 Palestinian fishermen in Gaza waters

Israeli naval forces arrested early on Sunday two Palestinian fishermen in the waters of northern the Gaza Strip, a senior Palestinian official said.

"The Israeli army also confiscated their fishing boat and took them to the seaport of Ashdod for questioning," Nizar Ayyash, chairman of Gaza Fishermen Association, said in a statement.

Israel says that the arrest of the two fishermen were made due to violation of the area allowed for fishing.

Ayyash noted that since the beginning of this year, the Israeli army arrested 105 fishermen.

"Most of them were released after few hours of questioning by the Israeli security officers," he said.

Four Palestinian fishermen were arrested eight months ago and have not been released, he added.

The Israeli army says that the arrests of fishermen in the waters of the Gaza Strip are aimed at stopping the smuggling of weapons and drugs into the coastal enclave, which has been ruled by the Islamic Hamas movement since 2007.

On June 5, the Israeli army decided to reduce the allowed area of fishing from nine miles to six miles.

However, last month, Israel decided to expand the fishing area in the Gaza Strip to nine miles. But the move was postponed three times for security reasons, said Ayyash. Endit