RAMALLAH, April 19, 2011 (WFA) - Oliva, a human rights monitoring boat, will launch from the port of Gaza City into the Palestinian waters on Wednesday April 20, according to a press release by Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA) published on Tuesday.

The 8-meter long white motor boat’s crew, consisting of international activists of CPSGAZA, will accompany Palestinian fishermen within Palestinian waters. They will monitor and document violations of international law; data and video materials will be collected and disseminated, said the press release.

CPSGAZA said that since the Israeli military operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008, access to fishing grounds has been unilaterally restricted by Israel to 3 nautical miles. This dramatic reduction from the 20-mile limit which was agreed upon in the Oslo Accords has resulted in the overexploitation of fishing grounds in which stocks are close to exhaustion.

Palestinian fishermen are threatened by gunfire, confiscation of their boats and fishing tools, and arrest by the Israeli Navy which regularly launches attacks and incursions in Palestinian waters, it added.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, nearly 90% of Gaza's 4000 fishermen are now considered either poor (with a monthly income of between 100 and 190 US dollars) or very poor (earning less than 100 dollars a month), up from 50% in 2008.

The launching, supported by local and international organizations, comes in response to extreme vulnerability of the Palestinian fishermen’s conditions in Gaza. Among the supporting organizations; the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committees, the Union of Agriculture Committees and  Fishing and Marine Sports Association, added the press release.

Vittorio Arrigoni, the murdered human rights activist, strongly supported this project and therefore a commemoration of his life and work will be held at the end of the press conference.

R.Q./F.R.