Several Palestinian fishermen were injured on Saturday morning after Israeli forces attacked fishing boats off the northern coast of Gaza City and in the central Gaza Strip.
According to medical and local sources, two fishermen — Mahmoud Nasser Mahfouz and Mohammad Al-Zant — were wounded by shrapnel after an Israeli “Quadcopter” drone dropped an explosive device on their boat while they were working at sea north of Gaza City.
Separately, six other fishermen were injured when Israeli naval boats shelled a fishing vessel off the shore of Al-Zawayda in central Gaza. All six were transferred to Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat for treatment.
Zakaria Bakr, head of the General Union for the Fishing Sector, confirmed that Israeli forces are deliberately targeting fishermen and what little remains of their basic equipment as they attempt to work in Gaza’s waters.
In addition, Bakr said the pace of Israeli attacks on fishermen has escalated sharply since the latest Israeli assault on Gaza resumed last month, with incidents now occurring daily — resulting in injuries, deaths, and severe damage to equipment.
He emphasized that Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza’s fishing sector and actively chases fishermen even in shallow waters. Particularly alarming, Bakr noted, is the increasing use of “Quadcopter” drones, which drop bombs directly onto fishermen’s boats, causing injuries and widespread fear.
Bakr warned that Israel’s tactics are aimed at completely destroying Gaza’s fishing industry — the second-largest production sector in the enclave after agriculture — especially amid the ongoing closure of border crossings that has strangled the economy.
Since the beginning of the war of extermination against Gaza in October 2023, more than 200 fishermen have been killed, Bakr reported. Sixty of them died while fishing at sea, using small paddle boats, floating refrigerator doors, or even improvised rafts made of balloons.
Before the war, Gaza’s fishing industry employed more than 4,500 workers. Today, that number has plummeted to fewer than 400, Bakr said, adding that fishermen are operating with severely damaged equipment in an area no more than 500 meters from shore.
The sector’s production has collapsed by 98 percent since the war began, he said. Meanwhile, total financial losses have reached tens of millions of dollars, with ongoing losses estimated at $7 million per month due to the halt of all production activities — losses Bakr described as “catastrophic.”
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