Israeli naval forces arrested 10 Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to a Palestinian spokesman.

"The fishermen were detained while fishing south of the Gaza Strip," Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza’s Fishermen's Union, told Anadolu news agency.

He said three fishing boats had also been confiscated by Israeli forces.

There was no comment from the Israeli military on the arrests in Gaza, but Israeli forces have also detained 16 Palestinians in overnight raids across the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military.

Fishing zone

According to the fishermen's union, roughly 50,000 Gazans earn their living from fishing.

After Israel's war on Gaza in mid-2014, in which some 2,150 Palestinians were killed, Israel began allowing Palestinian fishermen to fish up to six nautical miles off the Gaza coast, as opposed to three nautical miles previously.

In May 2017, Israeli authorities increased the fishing area for Gazan fishermen to nine nautical miles.