The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza said Wednesday that Israeli attacks against fishermen are a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, considering it a policy of tightening the noose on fisherman and a form of prohibited collective punishments Under the rules of international humanitarian law.
In a press statement, the center called upon the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to intervene immediately and to exert pressure on the Israeli occupying authorities to cease all violations against fishermen, including by allowing them free access to the sea within the territorial waters of the strip. And fishing practice.
The statement read as follows:
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) on Wednesday issued a new report, "Israeli attacks on Palestinian fishermen," which is part of a series of periodic reports that the center has been issuing since the year 2000.
The report monitors the attacks carried out by the Israeli occupying forces against fisherman in the Gaza Strip, from 1 November 2017 until 30 April 2019, and the report (434) documented a shooting incident against fisherman while they were doing their work, resulting in the killing of two fishermen and the wounding of 22 fishermen, And damage to 15 fishing boats.The incidents of stalking also led to the arrest of 121 fishermen, the detention of 25 fishing boats, as well as the seizure of fishing nets belonging to fishermen.
The report also addresses the continuing maritime blockade and the denial of access to fisherman in areas where fish is proliferating.He asserts that those actions caused a deterioration in the economic and social conditions of some 4,000 fishermen and about 1,000 people engaged in fishing-related occupations, according to
to the report, the expansion of fishing space in the sea of ​​the Gaza Strip, ranging from 6 to 15 miles, for intermittent periods since early April 2019, has not caused much difference in the work of fishermen, especially in terms of increasing the quantity of fish production. This is due to a number of reasons, the most important of which are: the continued targeting of fishermen by the Israeli occupation forces within the distance they allow them to fish, the continued restrictions on the supply of equipment and fishing gear for fishermen, and the limited expansion of fishing space to areas characterized by fish poverty.
The report also confirms that the occupation authorities continue to infringe restrictions on the supply of equipment and supplies for fishermen, such as engines, jear (transmission), fiberglass, steel cables and spare parts for maintenance, on the pretext that they are "binary" materials. Use "according to the Israeli classification, this has led to the closure and maintenance of dozens of workshops for the boat industry.
The report concludes that Israeli attacks against fishermen are in violation of the norms of international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention. The policy of tightening the noose on fishermans is also a form of collective punishment prohibited under the rules of international humanitarian law and constitutions a form of fighting against the civil population in their means of subsistence.
In its recommendations, the report called upon the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to intervene immediately and to put pressure on the Israeli occupying authorities to cease all violations against fishermen, including by allowing them free access to the sea ​​within the territorial waters of the strip. And fishing practice. He also called on international and humanitarian organizations to provide material, technical and technical assistance to fishermen.
