A Palestinian was injured after Israeli naval forces on Tuesday opened fire on fishermen, detaining four and confiscating their boats, as Israeli forces also opened fire on farmers and leveled lands elsewhere in the Gaza Strip. The detained fishermen were identified as Hasan Miqdad, Bashir Abu Riyala, and his brothers Khalid and Rajab, according to Nizar Ayyash, speaker of the union of fisherman in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that two boats diverted from the designated fishing zone off the coast of Gaza City, as the army ordered them to turn back. However, the fishermen continued to sail and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots into the air before detaining the fishermen for questioning. The spokesperson added that one Palestinian was injured during the incident and evacuated to a hospital. Since the beginning of 2016, Israeli forces have detained at least 67 fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip, with the majority being later released from Israeli c
Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible