LOC10:03
07:03 GMT
Report by Wessam Abu Zaid
GAZA, June 22 (KUNA) -- Sixteen years after the Israeli occupation set an unlawful blockade on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian fishermen still struggle to make ends meet with the occupying marine force preventing anyone from venturing into the sea.
Fish resources is the second kind of income for Palestinians in Gaza after agriculture with 4,500 fishermen providing sustenance and food security for many in the Gaza Strip and also the West Bank.
The Israeli occupying forces had arrested hundreds of fishermen and also confiscated machinery and tools affecting the livelihood of many people, Chief of the Palestinian fishing union Nizar Ayyash told KUNA.
Not only that the Israeli occupiers are disrupting business, they were damaging tools and boats, preventing fishermen from doing their jobs, he added.
Ayyash called on local institutes to provide gear and tools to allow fishermen to resume their work, saying that the international community should also pressure the Israeli occupiers and halt the injustice that was occurring.
Speaking on the legal aspect of the situation, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) Salah Abdalati said to the press that there 120 Israeli violations since the beginning of 2022.
The violations included harassing and attacking Palestinian fishermen, confiscation of gears and boats, as well as unlawful arrests, indicated Abdalati.
These are serious international and human rights violations, he stressed, saying that it was about time that fishermen were protected against Israelis bullying behavior.
Abdalati affirmed that the daily routine of Israeli abuse was violating the Oslo accord signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which allowed -- in one its tenets -- for Palestinians to fish within an area of 20 nautical mile.
The official called on the international community to protect Palestinian fishermen and lift all measures of blockade set by the Israelis for over a decade.
Israeli occupying troops had forced Palestinian fishermen to operate within six to 12 nautical miles, an area lacking fish resources. (end)
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