Al Mezan Condemns Attacks against Fishermen and Calls International Community to Intervene and Ensure their Protection

Israeli forces have escalated the systematic attacks against Palestinians in the Israeli controlled â€کbuffer zone,, or â€کaccess restricted areas, (ARA) in the Gaza Strip.
Al Mezan's monitoring and documentation shows that since 1 September 2014, the Israeli forces launched 29 attacks against Palestinians in the ARA, killing 2 and injuring 35 more, including 9 children.
The Israeli attacks against Palestinian fishermen have also seen a spike in frequency, with 49 incidents of live fire recorded during the same period.
According to Al Mezan's monitoring and documentations, the IOF arrested 42 fishermen, injured 17, and confiscated 12 fishing boats and nine equipment such as electricity generators during the same period.
In an attack by Israeli forces at approximately 8:10 am on Thursday, 5 March 2015, Israeli gun boats opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats off of the coast west of the As-Sudaniya area in the Gaza Strip.
As a result, fishermen Eid Muhsein Bakr, 25, and Ziyad Fahed Bakr, 20, sustained shrapnel wounds in various parts of their bodies.
Medical sources at Al Shifa Hospital described their injuries as minor.
Their boat was also damaged.
The Israeli forces continued the attack against fishermen in the same area.
The Israeli boats surrounded four fishermen and forced them to take off their clothes, jump into the sea, and swim to their arrest.
The Israeli forces confiscated the fishing boat.
It's worth noting that the Israeli forces had opened fire at the fishermen while they were five nautical miles off the coast, which is well within the Israeli designated Palestinian fishing zone.
Al Mezan identified the arrested fishermen as follows: آ· Mohammed Hasan Ziydan; آ· Rami Mahnoud Ziydan, 32; آ· Mohammed Yousif Al Najjar, 36; and آ· Mohammed Rasem Hasouna, 36.
Al Mezan reiterates its strong condemnation of the Israeli forces, continued aggression in ARA, including the sea, and asserts that the right of Palestinian fishermen to access their fishing grounds in Gaza's territorial waters is a basic right.
The Israeli forces, attacks against fishermen clearly demonstrate the perpetration of systematic violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by Israeli forces.
Al Mezan therefore calls on the international community to promptly intervene to uphold its legal and moral obligations towards Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) to provide due protection for fishermen and other civilians.
Fishermen must be allowed to work freely and safely within the 20 nautical miles off of Gaza's coast, as per the Oslo agreements.
The Israeli authorities must launch effective investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators of crimes under international law.