Gaza fisherman Dies of Wounds by Israeli Fire

A Palestinian fisherman in the Gaza Strip died on Sunday from Israeli gunshot wounds sustained last month, an official in the outgoing Hamas-run health ministry said.

"Fisherman Imad Shukri Salem, 52, died this morning from wounds he sustained two weeks ago," spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP, saying troops on a naval vessel fired at him while he was fishing.

Salem sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and underwent surgery but his condition deteriorated, he said.

Nizar Aayesh, head of Gaza's fishermen's union, said troops had arrested three fisherman at sea on Saturday night and confiscated their boat.

Israel does not allow Gaza fishermen to venture more than six nautical miles from shore, and its naval patrol boats have been known to fire on those who broach that limit.

Gaza's Hamas government resigned on Monday after a new consensus government of technocrats was sworn in at a ceremony in Ramallah.

The lineup, which has been jointly pieced together by Hamas and its West Bank rivals Fatah, includes four Gaza-based ministers. A fifth Gazan minister is based in Ramallah.

Last week, the Islamist movement formally handed control of the justice and housing ministries to the new incumbents, and on Sunday, they also handed over the ministry of women's affairs and labor to the respective ministers, officials said.