At eight in the morning on Friday, November 22, 2024, Israeli gunboats targeted Palestinian fishermen who were fishing using a small manual boat operating without a motor, 300 meters from the beach located west of the Shati camp in the port of Al-Qarara in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in… A fisherman was martyred and another was injured. This scene summarizes an essential aspect of the daily livelihood of fishermen in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli policy of killing and starvation.
This Israeli attack led to the martyrdom of fisherman Maher Khalil Abu Riyala and the injury of another fisherman, resulting in the amputation of his hand. Cousin Nayef Abu Riyala – who is also a member of the Fishermen’s Syndicate – said that the martyr (50 years old) was fishing to support his family of 14 members, adding that the martyr He wanted to convey a message to the occupation that although it prevented fishermen from going to the sea, this sea belongs to fishermen and they will not give up their profession.
Nayef adds that his cousin was exposing himself to danger, and that he felt his martyrdom approaching a few days before the incident, as he asked him to take care of his family who had been displaced to the southern Gaza Strip, which prevented them from saying goodbye to their breadwinner when he was killed as a martyr.
The head of the fishermen’s committees in Gaza, Zakaria Bakr, speaks about the day on which Maher was martyred, “It was a tough Friday for us, especially since the occupation boats and warplanes targeted Khan Yunis beach since the dawn hours in another incident with rocket shells.” He adds that the capabilities of Gaza’s fishermen are subjected to daily bombing and destruction. Pointing out that the number of martyred fishermen is approximately 150, including 40 fishermen who were martyred while carrying out their work.
The head of the fishermen’s committees added in statements to Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “This is a profession that we inherited from our ancestors, and I still practice it along with my children and cousins, and we will not abandon it despite the obstacles and pressures that the occupation imposes on us.”
The head of the Palestinian Fishermen’s Syndicate in Gaza, Nizar Ayad, says that approximately 5,000 fishermen in the Gaza Strip support about 50,000 people from their families, and they are in constant fear of Israeli targeting during their work. As a result, “only 200 of the total fishermen practice their work despite the risks,” and it is reported that fishermen’s losses were estimated at $60 million, noting that fishing is the second most important profession in the sector after agriculture.
The head of the Fishermen’s Syndicate adds that the Rafah beach witnessed the occupation forces destroying large and small fishermen’s boats, in addition to burning fishing equipment in the central region of the Strip. Israel also completely destroyed the Gaza port, as well as the fishermen’s rooms in the port, while the headquarters of the Fishermen’s Syndicate in Khan Yunis were transformed. Deir al-Balah, northern Rafah, and the central region were transformed into shelter centers for the displaced.
Daily situations
Ayyad says that Gaza fishermen face daily dangers, morning and evening, as the occupation forces shoot at them as soon as they move only 300 meters away from the shores of the Strip, noting that the occupation has prevented fishermen from going to sea since the beginning of the war after October 7, 2023, which is “what It pushes them to risk their lives to secure their daily livelihood in light of the difficult living conditions and high prices.”
The head of the Fishermen’s Syndicate added, “This profession needs comprehensive rehabilitation for fishermen to return to work. The war also affected merchants, sellers of nets and fishing equipment, boat makers, and places for their maintenance, which further worsened the economic situation in Gaza.”
Destroying international support
The Fishermen’s Syndicate in Gaza reports that the Israeli war destroyed many of the capabilities of the fishing sector in the Gaza Strip, and the following are the most prominent of these losses:
- Destruction of fish farms worth two million dollars, which were established two weeks before the war, before they were completely destroyed by Israeli bombing.
- Two months before the start of the war, the Palestinian Economic and Social Center provided financial support for an ice factory project to refrigerate fish, in addition to installing solar panels to light one of Gaza’s ports, and operating the factory and ice station. All of this was worth approximately a quarter of a million euros, but all components of this project were lost. They were destroyed by the occupation forces’ fire.
- The United Nations Development Program provided support worth $200,000 two months before the outbreak of war to construct a retaining wall to protect boats from the waves, and to build 15 rooms to store fishermen’s belongings. All of these facilities were destroyed during the war.
- Qatar Charity supported the construction of rooms for fishermen, provided them with funds, and contributed to repairing their boats, at a value of $8.5 million.
- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provided annual support worth $800,000 to operate and maintain the boats, but the latter were also completely destroyed during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Scarcity of media coverage
The head of the Fishermen’s Syndicate in Gaza warns that the daily massacres committed by Israel against fishermen do not receive sufficient media coverage, as the media often focuses on events that leave a larger number of martyrs and wounded. He stated that there are martyr or wounded every day among the fishermen as a result of the continuous targeting of them.
Nizar Ayyad added that some fishermen are forced to use primitive means, such as refrigerators installed with batteries and lamps, to attract fish at night due to the lack of necessary equipment and tools, which were destroyed by the Israeli bombing.
According to Ayyad, the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Gaza, Wael Al-Daya, employed individuals to inventory and document the losses of the marine fishing sector, and called for an international movement to rehabilitate fishermen and their equipment after the end of the war.
