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Israeli navy arbitrarily arrests four fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters and confiscates their boat

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22 February 2023

Israeli naval forces continue perpetrating grave and systematic human rights violations against Palestinian fishermen sailing off the Gaza coast. Al Mezan documents Israel’s harassment of Gaza fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters on a regular basis, including the recurrent attacks, arbitrary arrests, seizure of fishing boats and equipment, and the use of live ammunition against them. Because of these practices, fishing off the Gaza coast has become a dangerous occupation with inherent risks to life and security. In the most recent incident, the Israeli navy arrested four fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat off the coast of North Gaza District.  

 

According to Al Mezan’s field investigation, at approximately 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 February 2023, the Israeli navy opened fire and surrounded a fishing boat located one and a half nautical miles off the coast of the Al-Waha area, in the North Gaza District. The boat was carrying four fishermen: Omar Mohammed Bakr, 33, Ibrahim Mohammed Bakr, 24, Mansour Mohammed Bakr, 20, and Mohammed Jamal Bakr, 38—all residents of Gaza City. All four fishermen were arbitrarily arrested, and their boat was confiscated by Israeli authorities.

 

This latest incident came two weeks after the arrest of two other Palestinian fishermen by Israeli authorities on 9 February 2023, when the two were arrested (and later released on the same day) and their boat confiscated. Notably, our documentation shows that since the beginning of 2023, the Israeli navy has carried out 49 attacks against Palestinian fishermen, arbitrarily arresting six and confiscating two fishing boats. It must also be noted that Israeli authorities still ban the entry of necessary fishing materials and equipment to the Strip as part of their settler-colonial closure against Gaza.

 

Al Mezan calls for the immediate release of the fishermen and the return of the confiscated fishing boats. We also strongly condemn Israel’s continuous unwarranted and illegal practices against Palestinian fishers, which are part of Israel’s unlawful closure policy that amounts to a prohibited collective punishment under international law and represents inhumane acts that constitute the crime of apartheid under the 1973 Apartheid Convention.

 

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