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Egyptian marine forces wound two Palestinian fishermen

May 20, 2014 at 10:31 am

Two Palestinian fishermen were wounded on Monday night when Egyptian marine forces targeted their fishing boats while approaching Egyptian waters, Palestinian security sources said.

Rassd news website quoted the spokesperson of the Palestinian ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qedra, as saying that Palestinians Abdul-Aziz Soboh, 25, and Khalil al-Bardaweel, 24, were shot by rubber bullets and admitted to the hospital for treatment of light wounds.

According to the sources, the Egyptian marine forces shot directly at the fishing boats when they tried to enter Egyptian waters.

The Palestinian fishermen noted that previously, the Egyptian marines forces usually allowed them to sail deep inside Egyptian waters before the military coup on 3 July of last year.

However since the coup, Egyptian marine forces have shot several Palestinian fishermen and confiscated a number of fishing boats.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli imposed siege by ground, sea and air, which Egypt largely upholds. As a result, about 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza are suffering severe shortages of food, medicine and energy supplies.

Israel prevents Gaza fishermen from sailing more than six kilometres. Before the coup they often sailed in Egyptian regional waters in order to catch enough fish to sustain their livelihoods.