Ref: 121/2011
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly
condemns the Israeli Navy’s escalation in arrests of Palestinian fishermen in
the Gaza Strip.
Over the past week, Israeli Naval forces
arrested 14 fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip. These arrests represent
a continuation of the sharp increase in the arrest of Palestinian fishermen by
Israel during the month of November. Since 1 January at least 32 fishermen were
arrested off the coast of the Gaza Strip, 17 of whom were arrested in November.
According to PCHR investigations, at
approximately 8:00 on Monday, 28 November 2011, the Israeli navy arrested two
fishermen and confiscated their boat and fishing equipment. The fishermen,
Mahmoud Yasser Al-Nahal (20) and Mohammed Khamis Kaloub (18), both from Gaza
City, were located within the Israeli imposed 3 nautical mile limit off the
coast of the northern Gaza Strip when they were approached by the navy and
ordered to jump of their boat and swim towards the army vessel. Both men were
taken to Ashdod Port where they were detained. Al-Nahal was released the same
evening at around 23:30 while Kaloub remains in detention. The boat and
equipment have not been returned.
The most recent arrests took place on Tuesday,
29 November 2011, approximately 3 nautical miles off the coast of Khan Yunis,
in the southern Gaza Strip. According to PCHR investigations, at approximately 10:30
that morning 3 Israeli gunboats and 2 smaller vessels approached a group of 6
trawlers. The navy ordered three of the trawlers to leave the area. Soldiers
then started shooting rubber bullets randomly towards the three remaining
trawlers, injuring the left hand of Nihad Rajab Hissi (30), a captain on one of
the boats. All fishermen aboard two of the trawlers were arrested while their
boats and equipment was confiscated. All but one of the fishermen aboard the
third trawler were also arrested too, leaving one man on board to return to
Gaza. The Israeli navy arrested 12 fishermen in total, all from Gaza City:
Osama Mohammed Hissi, 30; Mohammed Rajab Hissi, 21; Mohammed Jehad Hissi, 19;
Nihad Rajab Hissi, 30; Jamal Jehad Hissi, 22); Adham Khaled Al-Habeel, 25;
Ahmad Majed Al-Habeel, 25; Rami Bahjat Abu Odeh, 30; Raed Yussef Abu Odeh, 28;
Saleem Amin Abu Sadeq, 48; ‘Azmi Saleem Abu Sadeq, 20; and Khaled Khadr Abu
Shar, 19. The fishermen were taken to Ashdod Port, handcuffed and blindfolded.
In detention they were interrogated separately before they were released at
Erez checkpoint at around 2:00 the following morning. Their boats and equipment
remain confiscated.
For the past two decades the fishing waters of
the Gaza Strip have gradually shrunk by access restrictions imposed as a result
of the Oslo agreement and in more recent years by illegal unilateral
restrictions imposed by Israel. Even within the currently imposed 3 nautical
mile limit, the Israeli navy regularly attacks, arrests, and sometimes even
kills fishermen. These policies illegally target fishermen and their
livelihoods directly with severe consequences for civilian safety and financial
subsistence.
Click here to read about
the personal experience of 17-year old Mohammed Bakr, who was arrested together
with his uncle and cousin, while they were fishing off the Gaza coast, on 10
November 2011.
In light of the above, PCHR:
1. Condemns the
continuation of attacks against and arrests of Palestinian fishermen, and
considers them to be part of the larger closure policy imposed on the Gaza
Strip as a form of collective punishment of the civilian population.
2. Emphasizes
the gravity of targeting and threatening civilians in the pursuit of their
livelihood, severely affecting the means of survival of those directly
affected, in violation of international humanitarian law and international
human rights law;
3. Calls upon
the Israeli Navy to immediately release the detained fishermen, return their
confiscated boats, and to immediately and indefinitely cease all forms of
attack and harassment against fishermen and to allow them to fish freely in
Gaza’s waters;
4. Calls upon
the international community, including the European Union and United Nations
agencies, to assume their responsibility by taking immediate steps to end
Israel’s violations of international law, and to ensure accountability and
redress. As an urgent priority, the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip, which
includes the naval blockade, must be lifted.
