center Al Mezan Center for Human Rights issued a report about the Gaza Strip condemning Israel's violations against the fishermen in Gaza Sea. On 21 February 2017, Israeli naval forces opened gunfire at a Palestinian fishing boat off the coast of Al Waha, North Gaza. As a consequence, one of the fishermen, Mohammed Bakr, was shot in the back; the five fishermen on board were then withdrawn to an unknown location and their boat was confiscated. They are residents of Al-Shate' refugee camp and are identified as: Mohammed Omran Sabri Bakr, 23; Abdullah Sabri Bakr, 19; Mahmoud Sabri Bakr, 17; Omar Mohammed Najeeb Bakr, 25; and Thabet Mohammed Bakr, 21. But before detaining them for nearly 24 hours, the Israeli forces forced them to strip their clothes and jump into the water to swim to arrest at the navy vessel – though the weather was very cold. In spite of Mohammed's injury in his hand, he was forced to do as the others were doing. While they were on board the navy vessel, Mohammed was handcuffed, blindfolded and struck with a rifle butt. As the report mentioned, the 1993 Oslo Accords declared that a permitted fishing zone for fishermen in Gaza reaches to 20 nautical miles (nm); however, it was reduced to 12 nm by 2002 and to six nm by 2006. During the recent years, it has sometimes been decreased to three nm since Gaza has been considered as an enemy entity for Israel. According to the report, since 2000, the Israeli forces have killed six fishermen, injured 115, detained 613 fishermen and seized 146 boats and pieces of equipment, which resulted in deterioration in the Palestinian fishing sector on addition to thousands of jobs linked to this sector. Within the fishermen's syndicate 3,600 fishermen are registered; but less than 1,500 of these fishermen are active within their profession, so all their members have lived below the poverty line, as clarified in the report. References External links Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Human rights organizations based in the State of Palestine Human rights in the Gaza Strip Organizations established in 1999 Non-profit organizations based in the State of Palestine