Israel fires warning shots at Egyptian vessel in Israeli-occupied Gaza waters

Israeli forces fired warning shots towards an Egyptian warship that crossed into Gaza’s Israeli-occupied waters.

Israeli navy forces called on the vessel to stop after it "failed to respond," prompting the navy to fire warning shots.

"Upon detecting the vessel, Israeli Navy ships were dispatched from the Ashdod base and issued a call for the Egyptian vessel to return to Egypt. When it continued advancing toward Gaza, the naval vessels carried out warning fire in its direction. Only then did the Egyptian vessel turn around and head back toward Egypt," said Israel’s Channel 13.

The vessel, which had started its journey in Sinai, then changed course and returned to Egyptian waters, with no casualties reported.

Tel Aviv and Cairo carried out contacts after the incident to de-escalate any tensions.

The Egyptians expressed their regret over the incident "and assumed responsibility for it," Channel 13 added.

The New Arab could not independently verify this.

The Israeli military confirmed the incident, saying the vessel had briefly entered "Israeli territorial waters," prompting Israeli forces to act "in accordance with standard procedures and instructed the vessel to stop."

"When it did not comply, measures were taken to repel it, and the vessel changed course toward Egyptian waters," the military said.

Egypt has not officially commented on the incident, and there are no widely cited reports from major Egyptian news outlets.

Relations between Egypt and Israel have been tense since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. Cairo has repeatedly warned Israel against forcibly displacing Palestinians out of the enclave into Sinai.

Israel effectively controls all the Gaza Strip’s maritime space, and Palestinian fishing access is severely restricted, with Israel firing on and killing dozens of Gazan fishermen.

Under international law, war-torn Gaza should have a territorial sea extending up to 12 nautical miles from its coast, but Israel enforces a naval blockade over this entire zone and interdicts vessels well beyond it.

Before the latest war, which began in October 2023, Israel varied the permitted fishing zone between roughly three and 15 nautical miles, often putting further limitations after rocket fire from Gaza.

The restrictions have worsened over more than two years, as the Palestinian coastal enclave remains under a tight Israeli blockade, and Israeli forces occupy more than half of the territory.

Egypt, one of the main mediators in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, also bars Palestinian fishermen from approaching or crossing into Egyptian waters.