GAZA, March 30, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli naval boats Wednesday attacked Palestinian fishermen’s boats offshore the northern Gaza Strip, despite sailing within the 6-nautical-mile zone allowed for fishing.
Witnesses said Israeli navy soldiers fired a number of missiles and opened its heavy machine gunfire on fishermen, while sailing offshore Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza.
No injuries were reported among the fishermen who apparently fled the sea for fear of being detained, injured, or killed.
“Following disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005, Israel unilaterally and illegally established a so-called “buffer zone”, an area prohibited to Palestinians along the land and sea borders of the Gaza Strip,” said the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR).
“The precise area designated by Israel as a “buffer zone” is not clear and this Israeli policy is typically enforced with live fire.”
PCHR maintained that, ‘the establishment of the ‘buffer zone’ is illegal under both Israeli and international law.’
“Preventing Palestinians from accessing their lands and fishing areas violates numerous provisions of international human rights law, including the right to work, the right to an adequate standard of living, and the right to the highest attainable standard of health.”
The human rights center stated, “Enforcing the “buffer zone” through the use of live fire often results in, inter alia, the direct targeting of civilians and/or indiscriminate attacks, both of which constitute war crimes.”
Following the latest Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip (08 July – 26 August 2014), a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian armed groups was brokered by the Egyptian government, which allowed fishermen to sail up to 6 nautical miles.
However, the Israeli naval forces have not allowed fishermen to sail up to this as all Israeli attacks have taken place within the 6-nautical-mile fishing area, noted PCHR.
According to a PCHR weekly report covering the period between 17-23 of March 2016, Israeli forces continued to use excessive force in the occupied Palestinian territory. It said that three Palestinian civilians were wounded in the Gaza Strip during the reporting period.
“During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 4 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank and 4 others in the Gaza Strip.”
The illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, which has been steadily tightened since June 2007 has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip, stated the center.
T.R.
