Explosion kills three Gaza fishermen, Hamas rocket suspected

Three Palestinian fishermen were killed Sunday after a blast ripped through their boat off the Gaza shore.

The cause of the blast wasn't immediately clear. But this is being assumed to be an explosion caused by a misfired rocket launched by the ruling Hamas militant group.

Nezar Ayyash, a spokesman for the local fisherman's association, said the men -- two brothers and a cousin -- were working off the coast of the southern town of Khan Younis when the explosion happened.

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Minutes before the explosion, local media reported that Hamas was test-firing rockets toward the sea.

Hamas said it was launching an investigation.

Relatives of the fishermen posted a statement on Facebook describing them as "the martyrs of living who were killed when a local mortar shell hit their boat."