By JERUSALEM POST STAFFnaval patrol aiming 88(photo credit: )
A Palestinian teenager was critically wounded Saturday after an Israeli navy patrol boat fired on a Palestinian fishing boat off the Gaza coast.
According to the army, the fishing boat, which was carrying two Palestinians, had strayed into Israel's territorial waters, some 16 kilometers from the permitted area.
The presence of the fishing boat aroused the suspicion of a navy patrol, which was on routine operational duty off the Gaza coast. Naval crewmen signaled to the fishing boat to turn around, but the two Palestinians ignored the warnings and approached the naval vessel, ramming it several times, the army said.
Shots were then fired at the fishing boat, causing it to turn around and return to Gaza.
The army said that personnel on the naval boat did not identify anyone being wounded. Later in the day, Palestinian media reports claimed a teenager was wounded by the gunfire and taken to a local hospital.
The navy was investigating the incident and attempting to determine whether the Palestinians had accidentally strayed into Israel's territorial water or were planning an attack.
