Palestinians report IDF fire on Gaza fishing boat

Palestinians said late Tuesday that Israeli Navy ships fired at fishing boats off the Gaza coast, setting one of them on fire.

There were no reports of anyone hurt in the incident.

According to Palestinian media outlets, the ship was destroyed in the blaze reportedly started when an Israeli shell caused it to explode.

Israel has maintained a naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled coastal strip since the terror group took over the territory from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. It allows humanitarian aid into Gaza through Israel’s Ashdod Port, a measure Israel says is necessary to prevent Hamas from acquiring weapons from overseas.

As part of the blockade, fishing boats and other seagoing vessels are limited to traveling close to the coast.

Separately, Palestinians threw three firebombs at an Israeli vehicle near the northern West Bank settlement of Maale Levona Tuesday night, then fled to the village of Sinjil. No one was hurt in the incident.

Border Police officers arrested three youths, all aged 15 or 16, who approached Route 443, a major highway into Jerusalem that passes through parts of the West Bank north of the capital, carrying stones they apparently intended to throw at motorists.

The arrests took place between the Atarot and Benzion junctions, just a few kilometers north of Jerusalem.

Also Tuesday, a rock was thrown at a truck on Route 79 in the north of the country, near Shfaram. The vehicle was damaged but no one was hurt in the incident. It is not clear if the incident was a terrorist attack. Police have launched an investigation.