Egypt fires on Gaza fishermen, leaving one dead

A Palestinian fisherman was killed at sea by Egyptian fire near the Gaza border on Wednesday, the fishermen's union said.

The health ministry in Gaza confirmed that Mustafa Abu Awda, 32, had died but did not give further details.

The union said in a statement that he had been killed by "Egyptian fire".

A fisherman who had been in the same area said Egyptian forces had opened fire on Abu Awad's boat when it apparently approached or crossed the border Wednesday afternoon.

The union announced a one-day strike in protest at the killing.

The heavily populated Gaza Strip is wedged between Egypt, the Mediterranean and Israel, which imposes strict limits on how far Gaza fishermen can venture out to sea.

The enclave's land border with Egypt had been largely sealed in recent years, but reopened in May as relations improved between the Egyptian government and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas.

Last month, Israel ordered the permissible zone for Gaza fishermen to be scaled down from nine to six nautical miles in response to mounting Palestinian protests.

At least 220 Palestinians either participating or present at the Great March of Return protests have been killed since March.  

A Gaza sniper shot dead an Israeli soldier in August.

Both Israel and Egypt have maintained a decade-old blockade of the Gaza Strip that will make the enclave "unliveable" by 2020, according to the UN.