Three Palestinian fishermen were killed Sunday after an explosion exploded through their boat off the coast of Gaza, union officials said.
Nezar Ayyash, from the fishermen’s syndicate, said the anglers – two brothers and a cousin – were trying to trade off the coast of the southern city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip when the explosion occurred.
Although the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, Palestinian media reports blamed the fatal incident on Israeli naval fire.
According to a report by the IDF, the Israeli military was not involved in the incident, as the vassals closest to the fleet were located tens of miles away from the site of the explosion.
Minutes before the explosion, local media reported that Hamas, the terrorist group that controlled the Gaza Strip, was firing rockets into the sea.
A Hamas interior ministry in Gaza said it had opened an investigation into the incident.
The trio apparently were sailing on a beach in the south central part of the Strip, where Hamas often operates.
About two weeks ago, an IDF navy fired and sank a ship off the coast of the Gaza Strip, later identified as a vassal belonging to Hamas. No casualties were reported.
Hamas has been trying to launch a number of terrorist attacks on Israeli territory through the sea in the past few years, which has prompted the army to mobilize around a coastal area. Palestinian harbor.