Tag: Gaza

ISM Gaza Strip: IOF bulldozers and tank on Gazan land east of Khan Younis

On Thursday the 27th of November a group of ISM volunteers who were accompanying farmers and monitoring the situation in Khouza’a east of Khan Younis, observed a concentration of IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) behind the Green Line. At about 10.15 a.m. two D-9 armoured bulldozers and a tank crossed the fence and entered the Gaza Strip. Farmers in Khouza’a stopped working in their fields and started to return home. ISM volunteers accompanied them and in the same time were taking footage proving the incident.

The IOF forces entered for about 100 to 150 metres and started to move northbound along the Green Line towards Al Faraheen, whilst approaching Palestinian houses and the school in Khouza’a. The Israeli bulldozers were destroying whatever lay in their path along this stretch of Palestinian land, although most of it is not worked by Palestinian farmers as they are prevented from reaching it by IOF shooting.

By the time the two bulldozers and the tank reached Al Faraheen, they were supported by at least two more tanks behind the fence. Together they continued their operation towards Al Qerrara. According to Palestinian residents, this type of military activity inside the Gaza Strip is not unusual, even in the time of ceasefire; however this was the third consecutive day that it was repeated in the area east of Khan Younis.

Reaction in Gaza as the boats stolen by the Israeli navy are returned damaged

Three Palestinian trawling vessels confiscated by Israeli naval forces were returned on Thursday 27th November.


ISM Gaza Strip made this video as the boats were finally returned.

Almost immediately following the announcement that three Human Rights Groups had filed an appeal against Ehud Barak and the commander of the Israeli navy the boats were returned to Palestinian waters. The vessels were stolen from Gazan waters on 18th November while fishing in Palestinian territorial water.

Filed by Al-Mazan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court was on behalf of the vessels’ owners. The appeal, sent to the Israeli Supreme Court, asked why the boats have not been released and why the fishermen have not been compensated for their loss of income and their loss of use of the boats for the past week.

Rather than answer these questions in court, raising serious contradictions to the Israeli claim that Gaza is no longer occupied, Israel’s navy informed the lawyers that the boats would probably be returned immediately. Less than 24 hours later the boats were returned, though initial reports suggest that they had sustained serious damage and that expensive equipment has been stolen.

Video by ISM Gaza Strip

Israel attempts to avoid court challenge by returning stolen Palestinian fishing boats

Thursday 27th November, 2008 – Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Palestine

Three Palestinian trawling vessels confiscated by Israeli naval forces were returned today almost immediately following yesterdays announcement that three Human Rights Groups had filed an appeal against Ehud Barak and the commander of the Israeli navy. The vessels were stolen from Gazan waters on 18th November while fishing in Palestinian territorial water.

Filed yesterday by Al-Mazan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court was on behalf of the vessels’ owners. The appeal, sent to the Israeli Supreme Court, asked why the boats have not been released and why the fishermen have not been compensated for their loss of income and their loss of use of the boats for the past week.

Rather than answer these questions in court, raising serious contradictions to the Israeli claim that Gaza is no longer occupied, Israel’s navy informed the lawyers that the boats would probably be returned immediately. Less than 24 hours later the boats were returned, though initial reports suggest that they had sustained serious damage and that expensive equipment has been stolen.

“While the return of 1/4 of Gaza’s trawling fleet after they were stolen by the Israeli navy is a relief to Gaza’s fishermen, the fact that it only took the threat of court action in their own legal system for the boats return demonstrates how baseless Israel’s claim of not occupying Gaza is” said Fida Qishta, local human rights activist from Rafah and ISM co-ordinator in the Gaza Strip.

Held in Ashdod, the fishing boats were transferred into Palestinian waters six nautical miles offshore at approximately 16:00 Gaza time and reached the port of Gaza City shortly before 18:00.

There are only 12 boats of this size in the Gaza Strip, so the confiscation represented one quarter of such boats available to the Gazan population.The boats were abducted 7 1/2 miles from the port of Deir al-Balah, well within ‘Zone L’, which, under the Oslo agreement, gives them the right to be fishing within their own 20 nautical mile limit.

The boats’ captains reported damage to their vessels’ – indeed one trawler had to be towed in by a second due to engine damage. Equipment such as GPS devices were also missing. The fishermens’ loss of earnings over the last ten days is still being estimated.

The three human rights observers from the International Solidarity Movement who were accompanying the fishermen at the time of the Israeli assault were held at Maasiyahu detention centre in Ramle, despite never being charged. All have now been illegally deported by the Israeli authorities. Vittorio Arrigoni was deported to Italy on Sunday 23rd November, Andrew Muncie to the UK on Tuesday 25th and Darlene Wallach to the US early on Thursday 27th November.

Human rights groups file appeal against Ehud Barak over the confiscation of Palestinian fishing boats

Ramallah, Occupied West Bank: On November 25, 2008, Al-Mazan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) have filed a legal appeal against Ehud Barak and the commander of the Israeli Navy. The appeal was launched over Israel’s illegal confiscation of three large fishing boats from Palestinian territorial waters on the 18th November.

This appeal has been sent to the supreme court asking why the boats have not been released and why the fishermen have not been compensated for their loss of income and their loss of use of the boats for the past week.

The boats were abducted 7 1/2 miles from the port of Deir al-Balah, so they were well within Zone L, which, under the Oslo agreement, gives them the right to be fishing within their own 20 nautical mile limit. Israel’s actions raises serious doubts about their claim that Gaza is no longer occupied.

The action against Barak and the Israeli Navy is based, in part, on the The Hague convention, “Family honor and rights, the lives of persons, and private property, as well as religious convictions and practice, must be respected. Private property can not be confiscated.”

Haaretz: Palestinians – Libya sends ship to Gaza in bid to break blockade

To view original article, published by Haaretz on the 26th November, click here

Libya has recently sent a ship carrying 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Palestinian media outlets reported Wednesday, in an attempt to break the blockade Israel has imposed on the coastal territory.

The Palestine News Network reported on Tuesday that supplies that were official aid from Libya, a state with which Israel has no diplomatic relations.

The network quoted Libyan officials as saying that, “The Palestinians are starving from this attack.

“There is also political isolation and the media is ignoring the situation. This mission was not created to show our messages of solidarity, but to provide concrete assistance.”

The International Middle East Media Center, a Palestinian news organization, quoted a Gaza official as calling on other Arab states to flout the blockade.

According to the organization, Jamal al-Khudary, the head of the Palestinian Popular Anti-Siege Committee protest, also said: “This ship is a practical measure against the siege… it is not for media consumption.”

If the boat reaches Gaza, it will be the fourth to have done so since Israel imposed the blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory in response to cross-border rocket fire.

The boats that have sailed to Gaza until now have been manned by political activists. The reported Libyan voyage would constitute the first such one by a sovereign state.