Israel deprives Palestinians in Gaza of rich food: Hamas official

“Israeli restrictions and aggressive acts against fishermen are depriving the people here, especially children, of a very rich source of protein,” Qedra said.

“This is a blockade on food and it will only harm the food security in the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas Health Ministry official added, referring to the Israeli siege of the Palestinian territory.

Also on Sunday, Israeli naval forces stopped a Palestinian fishing boat off the Gaza coast and arrested its crew.

Amjad al-Shawwa of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) also said that Israel is deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza mainly that of the nutrition of the children by preventing the Palestinian fishermen from fishing.

“Israeli aggression against fishermen has negative effects on the life of Palestinians,” he said.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are economically connected with the fishing industry.

The Gaza Strip had a fishing zone of 20 nautical miles under the 1993 Oslo Accords. However, Israel imposed a ban on any fishing outside a three-nautical-mile limit during the December 2008-January 2009 war against enclave.

The Israeli-imposed ban still remains to limit the working area for Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza coast.

According to the Palestinian Fisheries Department of the Gaza Strip, about 3,100 fishermen are registered in the besieged territory. The number was around 10,000 in 2000.

Israel also denies about 1.5 million people in the besieged Palestinian territory their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the right to decent living, work, health and education.