Middle East Monitor / October 27, 2021
The Israeli occupation’s navy this morning confiscated two fishing boats off the Gaza coast and destroyed a third.
According to the Head of the Fishermen’s Syndicate, Nizar Ayyash, the two fishing boats were owned by fishermen Abdullah al-Bardaweel.
While the one that was destroyed was owned by Mohammad al-Bardaweel, Ayyash said, noting that the Israeli navy also destroyed lights and other equipment used for fishing.
Ayyash noted that the Israeli navy’s attacks on Palestinian fishermen do not stop, noting that the attack was carried out at about seven nautical miles from the coast.
According to the Palestinian Fishermen’s Association in Gaza, there are some 4,000 fishermen working in Gaza’s fishing sector, who are looking after about 50,000 dependents.
The profession has been deemed dangerous by rights organizations due to Israel’s harassment of fishermen at sea.
Last year alone, Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip on at least 320 occasions, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) reported, 63 more attacks than the previous year. Israel also closed the fishing area altogether for 16 days in August.
