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Press Release: Israeli navy arbitrarily arrests three Palestinian fishermen in Palestinian territorial waters

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25 April 2022 |Reference 20/2022

Years of illegal and unwarranted attacks, arbitrary arrests, and restrictions on Palestinian fishers by Israeli authorities has rendered fishing off the Gaza coast a dangerous occupation with inherent risk to life and security. The seizure, damage, and destruction of fishing boats is regularly reported, and use of live ammunition against fishers is recorded on an almost daily basis by Al Mezan.

 

According to Al Mezan’s field investigation, at approximately 5am on Monday, 25 April 2022, the Israeli navy opened fire at and surrounded a fishing boat off the coast of Rafah, south Gaza. The boat was carrying three fishermen: Awad Tareq Bakr, 24, Jabr Tareq Bark, 21 and Mohammed Rajab Abu Ghanem, 24—all residents of Gaza City. They were arrested and their boat was confiscated without cause.  

 

Al Mezan’s documentation shows that since the start of this year, the Israeli navy has carried out 97 attacks against Palestinian fishermen, injuring nine (including three children), arbitrarily arresting 17 fishers (including three children) and confiscating five fishing boats. In addition, the Israeli authorities continue to ban the entry into Gaza of necessary fishing equipment as part of their stifling closure imposed on the Strip.

 

Al Mezan condemns all forms of violence against Palestinian fishers and demands that the detained fishers and their confiscated boat be immediately released. These unwarranted and illegal practices are part of Israel’s unlawful closure policy that amounts to a prohibited collective punishment under international law, and represent inhumane acts which constitute the crime of apartheid under the 1973 Apartheid Convention.

 

Al Mezan reiterates its calls on the international community, in particular the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Convention, to uphold their obligations toward the Palestinian people and pressure Israel to end its closure on the Gaza Strip and stop its systematic violations against the civilian population, including fishers.

 

28 April 2022: this press release corrected the number of fishermen injured in 2022 to nine fishermen, not six.

 

 

 

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