Israeli occupation attacks Palestinian fishermen off Gaza coast, seizes lands in the West Bank to expand settlements, detains more Palestinians

The Israeli oxcupation navyal forces this morning attacked Palestinian fishermen’s boats off the coasts of Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, forcing them to return to shore.

According to WAFA News Agency, the Israeli navy opened fire and water cannons toward fishermen’s boats when they were three nautical miles from the northern Gaza City coast, forcing them to leave the area and return to shore. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli navy also opened fire at fishermen’s boats off the Khan Younis and Rafah coasts in the south of the Gaza Strip when they were about five nautical miles away.

The Israeli navy deliberately uses water cannons and opens fire on a daily basis against fishermen on the Gaza coast and prevents them from fishing, their main source of livlihood.

Occupation forces attack the Palestinians’ lands near Tulkarm

The Israeli occupation forces on Saturday attacked the Palestinians’ lands near the West Bank city of Tulkarm.

WAFA News Agency reported that the occupation forces stormed into the village of Shoufa, southeast of Tulkarm, and seized about 5 dunums to expand a settlement already built on the village’s land.

On Thursday, Israeli settlers razed swathes of land in the villages of Qasra and Jaloud, south of Nablus in the West Bank, with the aim of expanding two settlements that had already been established on the lands of these two villages.

Occupation detains 3 Palestinians in the West Bank

Meantime, the Israeli occupation forces detained 3 Palestinians in different parts of the West Bank.

WAFA reported that two Palestinians were detained when the occupation forces stormed into their homes and ransacked their contents in the towns of Beit Ummar, north of the West Bank city of Al-Khalil (Hebron) and Al-Tur in occupied Al-Quds. The third Palestinian was detained while he was passing near one of the occupation checkpoints in the town of Ya’bad, southwest of Jenin.

The occupation forces also stormed into the villages of Jalboun, Faq’ouneh, Arbouneh, Al-Jalma and Deir Ghazaleh and ransacked their contents.

In addition, the main entrances to the village of al-Mughayyer, east of Ramallah, remain sealed by the Israeli occupation forces for the eighth day in a row.

Local sources told WAFA that as a result of the closure, residents of the village are forced to use alternate and long routes to enter or leave the village, which causes them serious hardships and long delays in reaching their destinations.

The closure of the roads is part of Israel’s collective punishment against the Palestinian villages, which are subjected to constant attacks by settlers, who damage property and cut trees, and to raids by the occupation forces.

Hamda Mustafa