Navy fires on suspicious Gaza boat returning from Sinai
Vessel ignores orders to stop after Israeli forces notice it returning laden with cargo
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
An Israel Navy ship fired at a suspicious Palestinian vessel returning to the Gaza Strip from the Sinai Peninsula late Sunday night.
Israeli forces tracked the boat as it left the southern Gaza Strip, the Ynet news site reported. When it returned from the Sinai laden with cargo, the navy ordered the boat to stop.
When it refused to do so, Israeli forces opened fire, striking the boat.
An Israeli naval official tasked with safeguarding Israel’s maritime boundary with Gaza told Israel Radio in October that Gaza’s shore was “one big tunnel,” in reference to Hamas’s numerous smuggling and attack tunnels dug under the Egyptian and Israeli borders. Dozens of such tunnels were destroyed by Israel during Operation Protective Edge during the summer.
The officer said that after the Egyptians destroyed many of the smuggling tunnels dug between Sinai and Gaza in 2013-2014, attempts had intensified to smuggle weaponry via the sea.
While most Gaza fishermen were not involved in terrorist activity, he stressed that terror operatives were continually using those fishermen’s freedoms to smuggle weapons and plan attacks.
Under the terms of an August 26 truce agreement, which ended a deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas militants, Gaza fishermen are permitted to trawl the waters up to six nautical miles off the shore.
AFP and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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