Israel releases 4 Gaza fishermen 'detained at sea'

 

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces released four Palestinian fishermen early Sunday, after they were detained off the coast of the Gaza Strip a day earlier.

Israeli forces fired at their fishing boat off Rafah shores in southern Gaza, and forced the men to swim to an Israeli gunboat on Saturday morning, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported.

The men were released to Gaza at 3.30 a.m. on Sunday, but Israel kept their boat and fishing equipment in custody, president of the Palestinian association for fishing and marine sports Mahfouth al-Kbarity told Ma'an.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the boat had "entered waters that are off-limits for fishing within the Gaza Strip," and didn't respond to instructions to change course.

The vessel was taken to Israel's Ashdod port north of Gaza "where the individuals aboard underwent security inspection," the statement added.

Under Israel's maritime blockade, Palestinian fishers are forbidden from fishing more than three nautical miles from the coast.

During the Oslo accords negotiators had agreed on 20 nautical miles of fishing access along Gaza's coastline.

Noting that most Gaza residents were dependent on food aid, the International Red Cross said in July that Gaza's fishing industry had almost disappeared due to Israeli restrictions.

In early December, the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said Israel has detained 40 fishermen, injured five others and seized nine boats since the start of 2011.

In one Week, IOF Arrests 7 Fishermen, PCHR Condemns the Continued Israeli Violations Against Palestinian Fishermen in the Gaza Strip

PCHR

Sunday, 08 January 2012 14:00

Ref: 01/2012

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the continued Israeli violations against the Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip and is strongly concerned over the escalation of such violations.  The violations resulted in the arrest of seven fishermen in two separate incidents, confiscation of two fishing boats, subjecting the fishermen to questioning and cruel and degrading treatment in addition to preventing them from sailing and fishing freely.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 10:00 on Saturday, 07 January 2012, the Israeli Navy Forces arrested four fishermen off the Rafah shore while they were practicing their work.  The Israeli soldiers fired at the fishing boat and forced the fishermen to stop, take their clothes off and swim towards the Israeli gunboat while the weather was very cold.  The Israeli soldiers took the four fishermen to Ashdod seaport to be questioned, after the were blindfolded and handcuffed.  At approximately 00:30 on Sunday, 08 January 2012, the fishermen were released and taken to Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.  The four fishermen are: 1) Rani Sami Baker, 29; 2) Tal'at Othman Baker, 46; 3) Jad Othman Baker, 35; and 4) Mahmoud Yahya Baker, 26, all from Gaza City.

At approximately 13:47 on Thursday, 29 December 2011, the Israeli Navy Forces intercepted a fishing boat with three fishermen on board, including two brothers, who were fishing off the Khan Yunis shore.  The Israeli soldiers arrested the three fishermen after they ordered them to take their clothes off, jump into the water and swim towards the Israeli gunboat. The fishermen were handcuffed and blindfolded with bags over their heads, while their boat was confiscated by the Israeli Navy Forces.  The fishermen are: 1) Nabeel Ahmed al-Henawwi, 34; 2) Mahmoud Ahmed al-Henawwi, 43; and 3) Monther Mosa Sehweil, 38, all from Khan Yunis.

In his testimony to PCHR, Nabeel Ahmed Mahmoud al-Henawwi, 34, from Khan Yunis, said that he and the two other fishermen had stayed naked for 20 minutes in the water.  They were shivering because of the extreme cold.  He added that the Israeli Navy Forces transported them to the Israeli shores and subjected them to questioning while they were handcuffed and blindfolded.  The two al-Henawwi brothers were released, but the third fisherman was transferred to Ashkelon prison.

It should be noted that the Israeli Navy has imposed restrictions on fishermen at sea, including denying them the right to sail and fish since 2000. The Israeli Navy also minimized the area allowed for fishing in Gaza waters from 20 to 6 nautical miles in 2008; however, the Israeli naval troops keep preventing Palestinian fishermen from going beyond three nautical miles in Gaza waters since 2009, and sometimes chase them in this area as well. As a result, Palestinian fishermen are denied access to areas beyond the three miles, due to which they have lost 85% of their subsistence.

In light of the above, PCHR condemns the recurrence of such attacks against the Palestinian fishermen, and believes that they are part of the escalation of collective punishment against civilians.  Besides, they have been carried out in the context of attacking civilians in their livelihood, which is prohibited under the international humanitarian law and international human rights law.  PCHR calls upon the Israeli Navy to:

1. Immediately stop the policy of chasing and arresting Palestinian fishermen and to allow them to sail and fish freely;

2. Calls for reparations to the victims for the physical and material damages caused to fishermen and their property; and

3. Immediately return the confiscated fishing boats to their owners and to compensate them for the material damage and psychological effects.

Israeli gunboats 'fire at fishermen'

Palestinians stand at Gaza City's fishing port. (MaanImages/Wissam Nassar)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli gunboats on Wednesday opened fire at fishermen off the coast of southern Gaza, witnesses said.

No injuries were reported.

An Israel army spokeswoman was not familiar with the incident.

[...]

PCHR Condemns Israeli Attack on Oliva Boat at Gaza Seashore

 PCHR

Thursday, 29 December 2011 00:00

Ref: 146/2011

  

On Wednesday, 29 December 2011, the Israeli navy attacked the Oliva Boat, which monitors the situation at Gaza seashore, and Palestinian fishing boats who were fishing in the sea. 

According to Mr. Mahfouz al-Kabariti, Chairman of the Palestinian Association for Fishing and Marine Sports, at 11:00 on Wednesday, 28 December 2011, an Israeli gunboat got close to Palestinian fishing boats and the Oliva Boat, while they were approximately two nautical miles off the seashore, as the Israeli navy allow Palestinian fishing within a distance of 3 nautical miles from the seashore.  Al-Kabariti stated that the Oliva was monitoring Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen at the Gaza seashore.  An Israeli gunboat got close to it and attacked 6 times.  The Israeli naval troops ordered two Italian solidarity activists and the captain who were on board of the boat to sail back, claiming that the boat sailed beyond the 3-nautical mile distance, while the boat’s GPS measured the distance at two nautical miles only.  The captain was providing the boat with fuel when the Israeli navy attacked the boat.  The Israeli navy used water hoses against the boat, which almost made it capsize.  An Italian solidarity activist, Rosa Schiano, who was on board of Oliva, stated that she called in vain to the Israeli naval troops to stop attempting to turn the boat over.  As a result of the attack, Oliva’s captain, Mushtaq Zaidan, from Gaza City, fell and injured his leg.  Palestinian fishermen in the area were able to help him, and to pull the Oliva back to the shore. 

It is worth noting that Oliva started its work on 20 April 2011 under the umbrella of the Spanish Civil Peace Service. It carried out the first monitoring mission in the Gaza Strip on 8 June 2011.  The project is aimed at monitoring and documenting Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen while fishing, which constitute a violation of international law and amount to possible war crimes.  PCHR, the Palestinian Association for Fishing and Marine Sports, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and the Coordination Committee of Popular Resistance participate in the project, which is sponsored by dozens of local and international organizations. The monitoring team includes international solidarity activists from Italy, Sweden, USA and the UK.   

PCHR condemns the continuous attacks by the Israeli Navy against Palestinian fishing boats, and the attack against the Oliva, which monitors the human rights situation in Gaza’s seawaters. PCHR calls upon the international community:

1. To intervene to stop Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, including measures aimed at preventing the work of Palestinian fishermen;

2. To act to stop the Israeli Navy’s attacks against the Oliva boat, which carries out a peaceful civil mission and aims– with entirely legal tools – to ensure the Palestinian fishermen the possibility of working in safe conditions;

3. To force Israel to immediately lift the illegal closure imposed on the Gaza Strip, including the naval blockade restricting fishing to 3 nautical miles from the seashore, and to allow Palestinian fishermen to work freely.

Israeli navy attacks international observers, injures Palestinian, on monitoring boat in Gaza waters

CPSGaza

28 December 2011  

 For Immediate Release

At 10:55 am, an Israeli naval warship attacked the international observers and Palestinian captain of the Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA) boat Oliva, injuring its captain in an apparent attempt to capsize it.

The two international observers, both Italian citizens, are available for media questions or interviews.

"The Israeli navy passed near us and the fishermen, and started to go around us, creating waves," said Rosa Schiano, one of the international observers. "The fishermen escaped, but we couldn't because of a problem with our engine. We couldn't move, and they went around us very quickly. The Israelis saw that we couldn't move, and that the captain was trying to fix the engine, but they didn't stop. We told them, 'Please stop! Please stop!' But they didn't."

When the warship was two meters away from the Oliva, one of the waves it had created nearly capsized the small boat, filling it with water and causing the Palestinian captain to fall out, injuring his left leg.

"Their intentions were to do something very bad," said international observer Daniela Riva. "Coming so close to us was very dangerous, and they obviously knew that."

After more than twenty minutes, the warship retreated, and the Oliva was rescued by a small Palestinian fishing boat, or hasaka, which threw it a line and towed it toward the shore.

Photos are available for free use with attribution to Rosa Schiano, Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA): http://bit.ly/CPSGAZAphotos. Additional photos and video will be available upon request: email press@cpsgaza.org.

The incident followed similar attacks on the Oliva during previous missions. Video footage is available: http://bit.ly/CPSGAZAvideos. 





Background

Restrictions on the fishing zone are of considerable significance to Palestinian livelihood. Initially 20 nautical miles, it is presently often enforced between 1.5 - 2 nautical miles (PCHR: 2010). The marine 'buffer zone' restricts Gazan fishermen from accessing 85% of Gaza's fishing waters agreed to by Oslo.

During the Oslo Accords, specifically under the Gaza-Jericho Agreement of 1994, representatives of Palestine agreed to 20 nautical miles for fishing access. In 2002 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan empowered Catherine Bertini to negotiate with Israel on key issues regarding the humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and a 12 nautical mile fishing limit was agreed upon. In June 2006, following the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit near the crossing of Kerem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom), the navy imposed a complete sea blockade for several months. When the complete blockade was finally lifted, Palestinian fishermen found that a 6 nautical mile limit was being enforced. When Hamas gained political control of the Gaza Strip, the limit was reduced to 3 nautical miles. During the massive assault on the Strip in 2008-2009, a complete blockade was again declared. After Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli army began imposing a 1.5 - 2 nautical miles (PCHR: 2010).

The fishing community is often similarly targeted as the farmers in the 'buffer zone' and the fishing limit is enforced with comparable aggression, with boats shot at or rammed as near as 2nm to the Gazan coast by Israeli gunboats.

The fishermen have been devastated, directly affecting an estimated 65,000 people and reducing the catch by 90%. The coastal areas are now grossly over-fished and 2/3 of fishermen have left the industry since 2000 (PCHR: 2009). Recent statistics of the General Union of Fishing Workers indicate that the direct losses since the second Intifada in September 2000 were estimated at a million dollars and the indirect losses were estimated at 13.25 million dollars during the same period. The 2009 fishing catch amounted to a total of 1,525 metric tones, only 53 percent of the amount during 2008 (2,845 metric tones) and 41 percent of the amount in 1999 (3,650 metric tones), when the fishermen of Gaza could still fish up to ten nautical miles from the coast. Current figures indicate that during 2010 the decline in the fishing catch continues. This has caused an absurd arrangement to become standard practice. The fisherman sail out not to fish, but to buy fish off of Egyptian boats and then sell this fish in Gaza. According to the Fishermen's Union, a monthly average of 105 tons of fish has been entering Gaza through the tunnels since the beginning of 2010 (PCHR 2009).

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). "The Buffer Zone in the Gaza Strip." Oct. 2010.

Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. "A report on: Israeli Attacks on Palestinian Fishers in the Gaza Strip." August 2009.

CPSGaza Report - 22 December 2011

CPSGaza


22 December 2011  The Oliva left Gaza Seaport at 8:25am with on board his Palestinian captain and two international observers from CPS Gaza.

At 8:50 am, at about 2 nautical miles from the coast (31° 35.12N / 034° 26.22E), Oliva’s crew sighted an Israelis navy vessel which was close to 6 hasakas and heard shooting. The hasakas were observed while getting away from the Israeli navy vessel and moving towards Oliva. The fishermen informed Oliva’s crew that an Israeli navy vessel opened fire at their boats at 5.30 am.

At 9:05, from the same position, Oliva observed the Israeli navy reaching again the fishermen, continuing shooting in the water and telling them to go back home. Oliva reached the point where fishermen were harassed, located at about 2.1 nautical miles from the coast and within the limit of the northern ‘closed area’ (31° 35.17N / 034° 26.14E).

At 9:25 am Oliva reached the float delimitating the 3 nautical miles (31° 35.62N / 034° 25.03E).

At 9:40, when Oliva was at 2.9 nautical miles offshore (31° 35.21N / 034° 25.07E), the Israeli navy vessel moved at high rate of speed towards Oliva which hanged back. The same happened at 9:53 am and then at 10:12 am, when Oliva was at 2.85 nautical miles offshore (31° 34.97N / 034° 24.92E).

At 10:23 Oliva kept observing the Israeli navy vessel from a distance of about 200m and at 10:50 returned to the port of Gaza.

Background:

Israel has been regularly attacking Palestinian fishermen within the purported 3 nautical mile fishing limit. The livelihood of many Gazans relies on fishing and Israel has been using live ammunition and water cannons to prevent fishermen from doing their work.

The Israeli Siege continues after more than 4 years, limiting the sea area available for the Gaza population. This area was supposed to be 20 miles according to the Jericho agreements from 1994 (under the Oslo accords), then it was reduced to 12 miles, to 6 miles and now to 3 miles since December 2008.

The Civil Peace Services continue monitoring potential human rights violations at the sea in front of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli navy harasses Palestinian fishermen off Gaza coast

 Posted on ISM webpage on: December 21, 2011

by Rosa Schiano

21 December 2011 | Civil Peace Service Gaza

Photo: Rosa Schiano, Civil Peace Service Gaza - Click here for more images

The Oliva sailed from Gaza Seaport at 8:15 am. The Palestinian captain and two international observers from CPS staff were on board at 8:45 am Oliva reached four hasakas in the north of the Strip, about 2.2 nautical miles off shore (31° 35.40N / 034° 26.29E).
At 9:20 am the crew sighted an Israelis navy vessel moving toward the four hasakas and Oliva at a high rate of speed. The four hasakas and Oliva started to move toward the coast. The Israeli navy vessel continued to run after the hasakas and Oliva reaching 1.5 nautical miles off shore (31° 34.68N / 034° 26.49E) and then hanging back.
At 10:20 am the same Israeli navy vessels approached the four hasakas which were within the area marked by the float located about 2 miles off shore on the northern limit imposed on Palestinian fishing area (31° 35.41N / 034° 26.57E), continuing harassing them and shooting several times in the water.
At 11:00 am the Israeli navy vessels hanged back and Oliva returned to the port of Gaza.

Background:

Restrictions on the fishing zone are of comparable significance to Palestinian livelihood. This area was supposed to be 20 miles according to the Jericho agreements from 1994 (under the Oslo accords), then it was reduced to 12 miles, to 6 miles and now to 3 miles since January 2009. The marine ‘buffer zone’ restricts Gazan fishermen from accessing 85% of Gaza’s fishing waters agreed to by Oslo.
Israel has been regularly attacking Palestinian fishermen within the purported 3 nautical mile fishing limit. The livelihood of many Gazans relies on fishing and Israel has been using live ammunition and water cannons to prevent fishermen from doing their work.
The Israeli Siege continues after more than 4 years, limiting the sea area available for the Gaza population.
The Civil Peace Services continue monitoring potential human rights violations at the sea in front of the Gaza Strip.

Updated on December 22, 2011