Update: Monday, 05-16-2016 — The army released eight of the ten kidnapped fishers.
The two were remained imprisoned have been identified as Khamis Radwan Bakr and Hasan Ibrahim Madhi.
Original Article – Published on May 16, 2016 @ 01:16
Several Israeli navy boats attacked, on Sunday evening, Palestinians fishing boats, in Gaza territorial waters in the northern part of the coastal region, and kidnapped ten fishers. The navy carried out 47 attacks against the fishers this year, wounding 24 and abducting 35 others.
Zakariyya Bakr, Coordinator of the Fishers Committee of the Union of Agricultural Work Committee, said the Israeli navy ships opened fire on the Palestinian fishing boats near the al-Waha area in northern Gaza, and kidnapped ten fishers, in addition to confiscating two boats.
Bakr said the kidnapped fishers have been identified as Khaled Radwan Bakr, Khamis Radwan Bakr, Ghaleb Radwan Bakr, Ahmad Khaled Bakr, Mohammad Khamis Bakr, Jamil Ahmad ‘Adas, Mohannad Abdul-Rahman Bakr, Hmeid Mahmoud Bakr, Adham Ashraf al-Ashwah and Hasan Ibrahim Madhi.
The al-Mezan Center for Human Rights denounced the ongoing Israeli violations against the fishers in Gaza waters, and stated that such Israeli assaults violate the basic principles of International Humanitarian Law, by frequently assaulting the fishers leading to many deaths, injuries and abductions, in addition to excessive property damage.
Al-Mezan also denounced the international silence and idleness that effectively encourages Israel to escalate its violations, not only of Palestinian rights, but also of International Law, and all related United Nations and Human Rights Council resolutions.
It demanded the International Community, especially signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention to perform their moral and legal duty by ending the deadly and illegal Israeli siege imposed on Gaza, as this blockade is an ongoing war crime.
It also called on them to act on ending the illegal Israeli occupation of the state of Palestine, and ending the ongoing land theft, aggression and crimes. It is worth mentioning that Israel is a signatory of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a constant violator of it.
Under the Oslo accords, the Palestinians are supposed to be allowed to sail and fish within twenty nautical miles from the Gaza coast, but Israeli kept unilaterally reducing the fishing and sailing zone to three, then to six, back to three and then to nine.
But recently, Israel unilaterally reduced the fishing zone in the area extending from Gaza valley to Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, to six miles.
There are approximately 3500 fishers in the Gaza Strip; they own around 700 boats, and provide income to more than 70.000 Palestinians.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a statistical report, just a few days ago, documenting 47 Israeli attacks against the Palestinian fishers since the beginning of this year.
The attacks included 24 incidents of live navy fire against the fishers, leading to the injury of five of them, and the abduction of 35 others, in addition to the confiscation of nine boats.
