Hamas has denied that rocket fire had killed the three Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
The militant organization said Thursday that the cause of the fishermens' death were due to the accidental explosion of an Israeli drone.
The fishermen reportedly found an explosive-laden Israeli drone while they were at sea. The drone was reportedly caught in their nets. Due to an unknown reason, the drone reportedly blew up as the fishermen attempted to lift it up using their nets. All three were reportedly killed instantly.
Following the explosion, the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights said that the boat may have been hit by a rocket being test-fired by Palestinian military groups operating in the area. Several military groups are actively conducting operations in the area, including Islamic Jihad.
Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, including most of the seaside strip where over 2 million Palestinians live. The area has since been under a blockade imposed by Egypt and Israel.
At the time of the incident, which occurred earlier in the week, the Israeli military denied that it was involved.
Gaza interior ministry's spokesman, Eyad al-Bozom, said Thursday that they had found no evidence that a rocket had hit the fishing boat. He said that they had found parts of an Israeli quadcopter drone caught in the boat's nets.
Bozom said that the drone may have fallen into the sea and was likely in the water since late February. He said that it might have crashed during an Israeli attack on a Palestinian naval craft just off Gaza back on Feb. 22.
At that time, the Israeli military said that it had encountered "suspicious naval activity" off the coast. Officials said that they were able to thwart the "potential threat" to the country's naval vessels.
Officials did not elaborate on what they had found on how they managed to eliminate the threat. The Israeli military does not typically comment on reports of their operations, including the reported use of explosives-carrying drones.
