Israel closes Gaza sea space in retaliatory strike following rocket fire
Audio 01:13
The port of Gaza City, April 26, 2021. Israel prohibits all sea trips. AFP - MAHMUD HAMS
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Gaza's maritime space has been closed since Monday morning.
Since 2006, the Palestinian enclave has been subject to the blockade of the Hebrew state.
On Monday April 26, the Israeli army decided to ban fishing off the Gazan coast.
A retaliatory measure, decided following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip against Israeli territory.
Some 50,000 people depend directly on the fishing industry in Gaza.
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With our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Sami Boukhelifa
At the port of Gaza, the fishermen's boats are lined up against each other. Israel prohibits all trips to the sea. Zakaria Bakr, head of the Gaza fishermen's union, denounces an unfair measure: “
It is collective punishment. And I ask this question: is the closure of our maritime space by Israel in accordance with international law
? To prevent civilian and defenseless fishermen from doing their job is to flout these international laws.
"
The maritime area is closed "
completely and until further notice
", say the Israeli authorities. A measure taken following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. For Zakaria Bakr, this rocket fire is just a pretext, because the fishermen and their families have nothing to do with this violence. “
The Israeli occupation forces just want to destroy the fishing industry in Gaza,”
he continues.
Since 2006 and the start of the Israeli blockade against Gaza, the Israeli army has killed 13 Gazan fishermen at sea. Seven hundred others have been arrested, one hundred and seventy fishing boats have been seized and one hundred and eighty boats have been destroyed.
"
This is the first time this year that Israel has closed the Gaza fishing zone.
In 2020, it experienced 11 closures, according to the head of the Gazan fishermen's union.
► See also:
Israel: rocket fire from Gaza, new clashes in Jerusalem
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