The Israeli navy has been accused of  killing a Palestinian fisherman and wounding another in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical officials said on Saturday.

The brothers had been near the coast off Beit Lahiya along with other fishermen when the naval forces fired on their boats, the Gaza fishing union

said. According to AFP, one man suffered a gun shot wound to the leg, which later proved to be fatal. An Israeli military spokesman was unable to confirm the shooting.

Israel imposes a strict maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, restricting the access of Palestinian fishermen to three nautical miles of the Mediterranean Sea.