Euro-Mid Unveils Footage of Israeli Warships Deliberately Dumping Palestinian Fishing Boats‏

Geneva- Gaza,

Euro-Mid denounced Israeli warships' deliberate act of attacking and dumping Palestinian fishing boats within the permissible fishing zone; endangering the lives of fishermen and civilians onboard the boats.

Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights has distributed a video recording captured by a journalist working for Media Town. The Video shows two Israeli worships pursuing five Palestinian fishing boats owned by Gazan citizens in the Gazan waters. The footage was recorded at 10: 30 Tuesday morning, August 28.   

Euro-Mid condemned the ruthless attack of the Israeli warships which directly endangered the lives of Palestinian fishermen. Meanwhile, Euro-Mid warned against the continuation of such barbarous practices in the absence of international monitoring and deterrence.

Euro-Mid considered the attack one of the many systematic practices used by Israel to destroy the fishing sector in the Gaza Strip, a sector that sustains more than 70,000 residents at time of high levels of unemployment and poverty due to Israeli siege.

Euro-Mid noted the attack occurred within the three nautical mile limit set by Israeli military. The fishing boats shown in the video, in fact, were chased at a distance of less than two nautical miles from shore which is an evident violation of the international law and the Israel's own law.

A detailed report by Euro-Mid was issued last May concluded that Israeli authorities did not only limit the permissible fishing zone, but also intended to prevent a great number of fishermen( around 3600) from practicing their own trade freely and safely, even within the permissible 3-mile limit, using its warships.

Euro-Mid report documented an estimate number of 150 violations per year committed by Israel against Gaza fishermen including arbitrarily arrests and shootings, in addition to dumping, vandalizing, and confiscating fishing boats.

See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwxytJaQIL0

Read full Report:  http://www.euromid.org/rebort/Report-english.pdf