Egyptian navy arrests three Gazan fishermen

Egyptian naval forces intercepted a boat from the Gaza Strip and arrested three fishermen early on Tuesday morning.

Palestinian media reports mention that the vessel was stopped whilst still in Gaza’s southern territorial waters, while a host of local news outlets have reported that the boat encroached into Egyptian waters.

Quoting the spokesperson for the Gaza Fishermen’s Union, the Palestinian Maan News Agency reported that “Egyptian naval squadrons obstructed a fishing boat off the coast of Rafah,” within Gazan waters near Egypt’s maritime border. According to Maan, Egypt’s navy commandeered the boat and took the three fishermen — who are reported to be brothers — into custody for questioning.

Egypt’s privately-owned Masrawy News Portal, citing unnamed “sovereign sources,” reported that security forces had succeeded in demolishing smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula, and were more recently confronting infiltrators from amongst Gaza’s fishermen involved in smuggling efforts.

Quoting their security source, the Masrawy News Portal published an article on Tuesday asserting that “fundamentalist groups in Sinai were resorting to Gazan fishermen for the delivery of supplies and weaponry following Egypt’s demolition of smuggling tunnels.”

Israel has accused Gazan fishermen of smuggling weapons and other contraband on their boats into the besieged coastal enclave. On Tuesday, the Palestinian News and Information Agency WAFA reported that Israeli naval forces opened fire on fishing boats off Gaza’s northern coast in the Sudaniya district. No injuries were reported, although WAFA said, “several fishing boats were reportedly damaged.”

WAFA also reported that this incident took place within the authorized six nautical miles of Gazan territorial waters in which Israel allows Palestinian fishermen to operate.

Gaza’s fishermen are restricted to operating within small designated fishing zones in the Mediterranean waters off this coastal enclave. Both Israeli and Egyptian naval forces have fired upon fishing boats and their crews operating outside these strictly-enforced borders.

Tens of fishermen are reported to have been arrested by Israeli and Egyptian navies for fishing outside their designated zones over the past few years, while several others are said to have been killed or injured by Israeli naval patrols.

The Oslo Peace Accords, signed between Israeli and Palestinian authorities in the 1990s, stipulates that Gazan fishermen may be allowed to fish within 20 nautical miles (around 37 kilometers) of the enclave’s coast.

However, following the takeover of the enclave in 2007 by the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, and since hostilities erupted between Gaza and Israel in 2008/09, Israeli authorities have severely tightened this designated fishing zone to a mere three to six nautical miles (5.5 to 11 kilometers.)

According to figures compiled by the Red Cross, there are an estimated 4,000 fishermen in Gaza, many of whom are reported to suffer from poverty, security obstructions, along with harassment and intimidation on the sea. Gazan fishermen frequently argue that these restrictions have contributed to their encroachments into territorial waters claimed by Egypt and Israel.