Israeli forces capture two Palestinian fishermen and seize their boat off Gaza

Israeli forces capture two Palestinian fishermen and seize their boat off Gaza

21st November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine


Ammar Asad al-Sultan (left) and Mohsen Zayed. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On
Sunday, 17th November 2013, two Palestinian fishermen were captured by
Israeli naval forces, who also confiscated their boat, in Gaza waters.
Ammar Asad al-Sultan, age 19, and Mohsen Zayed, age 25, were on a small fishing boat, orhasaka, without an engine, about one mile off the coast of Soudanya in the northern Gaza Strip.Israeli forces released them about 3:00 am the following day.
Ammar Asad al-Sultan lives in an area called Salatin, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
“We
went fishing at 5:00 pm,” he said there Tuesday. “Around 6.30 pm, an
Israeli gunboat approached our boat and the Israeli soldiers opened fire
into the water. We tried to quickly pull our nets in order to escape,
but we could not.”
Without a motor, the two fishermen could not
escape. “Im 25, and I have never experienced something so terrifying in
my life,” Moshen said. “I was afraid of losing my life.”
The
Israeli soldiers forced the two fishermen to undress and jump into the
water. “It was very cold,” Ammar said. “It was freezing. They told us to
jump into the water and swim 30 meters towards the Israeli gunboat.”
On
board, the Israeli soldiers brought the fishermen to the bow of the
boat, cuffed their hands and feet, and covered their heads. A soldier
asked them their names. The gunboat didnt go directly to Ashdod, but
moved south before doubling back and and reaching the Israeli port of
Ashdod.
“In Ashdod, two soldiers took us to a small room,” Mohsen
said.”They removed the handcuffs. Then, a military doctor checked our
health, blood pressure and temperature. Then we were kept handcuffed
again for about 30 minutes in a room, before they separated us and we
were questioned individually. They removed the handcuffs and the hood
from my head, and asked me about my family, my work, everything about my
private life, how many children I had. Then an investigator asked me
which political party I support. And he asked me how many brothers I
have. Eight, I replied. You are a liar, he told me. Im not, I
said. He insulted me and said, You have nine brothers. I told him one
of my brothers died when he was five years old, so I had not counted
him.”
After the interrogation, soldiers handcuffed the two
fishermen, covered their heads and took them to another room. Ammar said
soldier asked him to undress, then he checked his body with an
explosive detector alarm able to detect weapons and even gunpowder. “The
investigator, whose the name was Jamal, asked me why I was fishing in
the forbidden area,” Ammar said. “Then he showed me a printed map and
told me to mark my home. He asked me about my brothers and their work,
and if I knew someone who works for Hamas. He said, One of your
brothers works for Hamas. We follow his steps every day. I told him
that I dont know anyone and my brother is not working for Hamas. The
investigator told me, I know everything happens in Gaza. We are
watching at you. We could attach you, because your brother works with a
terrorist organization. Then he told me to tell my brother to stay away
from certain people because the whole family will be in danger if he is
not be far away from them. The investigator repeated the same things 10
times. Then the soldiers handcuffed me.”

Two Palestinian fishermen paddle off the Gaza seaport. (Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

Israeli forces took the two fishermen to the Erez checkpoint before releasing them.
Their families depend on their fishing, they said. Without their boat, they dont have any other means of subsistence.
Ammars
father said this is the third time he lost his fishing nets. Israeli
soldiers confiscated them, along with other boats. He went into debt to
afford them.
“I call on the international community to allow us to
live like people in the rest of the world outside Gaza,” he said. “I
appeal the world to stop these crimes and help the fishermen of Gaza,
especially the fishermen of the north of the Gaza Strip. Our children
need clothes and shoes. Children do not know our problems. They do not
understand why cannot have what they need. Now the winter is coming and I
have no money to buy them new clothes.”
This is the second
Israeli attack on Palestinian fishermen in only a week, as well as the
second consecutive attack against fishermen on a boat without an engine
one to two nautical miles off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forcesseem determined to prevent fishermen from accessing waters
in the northern Gaza Strip. The actual limit imposed by Israel on
waters north of Gaza is not six nautical miles, but one to two.
BackgroundIsrael
has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermens
access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the Jericho
agreements, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) in 1994, were reduced to 12 miles in the Bertini Agreement of
2002. In 2006, the area Israel allowed for fishing was reduced to six
nautical miles from the coast. After its military offensive “Operation
Cast Lead” (December 2008 – January 2009) Israel imposed a limit of
three nautical miles from the coast, preventing Palestinians from
accessing 85% of the water to which they are entitled under the Jericho
agreements of 1994.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached by
Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military
offensive “Operation Pillar of Defense”(November 2012), Israel agreed
that Palestinian fishermen could again sail six nautical miles from the
coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped its
attacks on fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel once
againimposed a limit of three nautical miles from the coast. On 22
May, Israeli military authorities announced a decision to extend the
limit to six nautical miles again.