GAZA, (PIC)
Whenever Palestinian fisherman Omar Ayash sets out to sea, he knows that this trip might be his last. But he takes the risk and repeats it in search of a morsel of sustenance stained with blood.
In an interview with the Palestinian Information Center correspondent, fisherman Ayash recounts the perilous journey he experiences every time he heads out to sea, amidst the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
In the first weeks of the war on Gaza, the Israeli occupation forces bombed the fishing ports in all governorates of the Gaza Strip, destroying most of the fishing boats. Fishing was halted for fear of being targeted by Israel, as happens in every war and major escalation.
After the war dragged on and hunger intensified due to the Israeli siege, hundreds of fishermen and amateurs were forced to take the risk and sail the sea in search of a living.
Prior to the war on Gaza, more than 4,000 fishermen and hundreds of amateurs were working in the fishing profession, which was their only livelihood.
Targeting despite the reduced area
Fisherman Ayash is one of hundreds of fishermen who have returned to the sea after being cornered, despite the imminent dangers posed by the Israeli occupation boats in the vicinity of the Strip’s shores.
The veteran fisherman, who has been fishing for quarter of century, says the area he operates in does not exceed one nautical mile, yet the occupation boats still pursue him and other fishermen with gunfire and bombs.
The fishermen confirm that the prolonged period of their inability to work, coupled with the lack of compensation from any party, in addition to the famine striking the Gaza Strip and the unavailability of meat, fish and vegetables, is pushing them to take risks in search of a livelihood. They take a small portion of their catch for their families and sell the rest to provide for their other needs, whose prices have multiplied several times over, if available.
The PIC correspondent affirmed that the Israeli war boats deliberately target the fishermen with bullets and bombs, sink their boats, and arrest them.
He added that the sea is like a field of death, but the fishermen risk their lives in search of a livelihood.
Dozens of fishermen were martyred by the Israeli gunboats’ gunfire while fishing at sea during the war, despite the fact that they were sailing only a short distance into the sea.
Targeting the shores
The Israeli occupation army is not satisfied with attacking the fishermen at sea, but its boats target them on the beach when they are repairing their boats and sewing their damaged nets.
The occupation forces have also set about destroying the fishermen’s boats and fishing equipment in the port of Gaza, where they have destroyed, burned and sunk hundreds of boats.
The occupation forces continue to pursue the same destructive policy against the property and equipment of the fishermen along the coastal strip of the enclave.
Killed while fishing
Fisherman Muhammad Al-Masar’i from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip was sailing at sea in search of a livelihood, when the occupation boats fired at him, leading to his martyrdom in November of last year.
His wife tells PIC that her husband risked going to sea after life had become difficult for them in the ongoing genocide.
She adds that he risked his soul, and decided to practice his profession of fishing, to provide for the needs of his children.
She affirmed that he did not pose any threat to the occupation and that he did not enter the sea with his small fishing boat for long distances, and that the occupation deliberately killed her husband.
Rights experts believe that targeting the fishermen and preventing them from working is part of the starvation policy imposed by the occupation army by depriving the residents of the Gaza Strip of benefiting from any local resources.
