Gaza’s fishermen confront multiple dangers
Not only are fishermen from Gaza subject to being shot by Israeli sailors, they also struggle against potentially fatal weather conditions.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Mohammad al-Kurd felt he had no option but to sell his boat and fishing net and bid farewell to the fishing business he had inherited from his father and had worked in since he was a child. He ultimately came to see fishing as “a waste of time and effort.” It also put his life in danger along with the lives of his children who assisted him.
Kurd, who lives in the Shati refugee camp, told Al-Monitor, “I had been working as a fisherman with my father since I was 8 years old. He gave me his net and boat. After all this time, I found out that selling them is the best solution to avoid being arrested or shot by Israeli soldiers at sea.”
Fishermen in the Gaza beach face many risks, namely, arrest and gunfire from the Israeli navy despite the truce signed between the Palestinians and Israel during cease-fire deliberations in August 2014 in Cairo.
According to the Israeli-Palestinian truce, the fishing zone in Gaza was to be increased to 6 nautical miles and then gradually to 12 nautical miles. Nizar Ayyash, head of Gaza’s Palestinian Fishermen’s Union, denied claims that Israel had implemented the terms of the truce agreement. He told Al-Monitor that it had kept the fishing zone at less than 6 nautical miles.
