Operating along the border of the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza’s fishing industry has provided a mainstay of the Palestinian diet and culture. The Port of Gaza has been a lifeline for the fishermen, with the major fish market located next to the shore. Since October 7, however, the coast has been destroyed in Israeli air and naval assaults and the port has been reduced to rubble.

Nevertheless, Gazan fishermen still must fish to support their families, and they face grave danger from Israeli attacks when they do so. As one fisherman reported, just casting nets invokes extreme attacks from the Israeli navy, drawing gunfire, bombardment with shells, and sound bombs. Not a day goes by without these attacks.

Not a new situation

What many people outside of Gaza don’t realize is that many of the atrocities Israel has perpetrated in Gaza over the past eight months did not start on October 7. Such is the case with the attacks on the Gazan fishermen. They have faced major restrictions and danger since Israel imposed its blockade of the Gaza Strip 17 years ago.

Until October 7, there were about 4,000 Gazan fishermen supporting more than 50,000 dependents. The fishermen were arbitrarily restricted to fishing in an approximately six-mile area from the shore and were not allowed to go into deeper areas of the sea where fish are more plentiful.

Attacks on them and their boats by the Israeli occupation forces were unpredictable. The Israelis routinely arrested fishermen on the sea, confiscated their boats, supplies, and tools, and took them to undisclosed locations for detention, interrogation, and torture. Gaza Port officials and Nizar Ayyash, the head of the Palestinian ministry called the Fishermen’s Syndicate, confirmed that random shootings by Israeli gunboats were brutally and frequently conducted, especially in times of fog and bad weather.

“Israel deliberately confiscates boats, injures fishermen, and cuts off their livelihoods,” Ayyash said. “They want to empty the sea of ​​fishermen for their own strategic interests.”

He added, “Ninety-five percent of the fishermen’s boats in Gaza are worn out. More than 300 boats need maintenance, but Israel makes it impossible for the fishermen to get what they need [e.g., motors and other equipment] to work on them.”

Here are two of these fishermen’s stories, from interviews conducted prior to October 7.

Nafez Salah

Leaning on his 60-year-old mother, 23-year-old Nafez Salah struggled to walk across the room due to constant pain from injuries to his feet, back, and head. Israeli forces shot him with rubber bullets while he was fishing in the narrow area of sea along the Gaza Strip where the Israeli occupation permits Palestinians to fish.

Salah had been fishing for four years when he bought a new boat and was excited by how this would increase his productivity. To buy it, he sold his mother’s and wife’s gold for 40,000 shekels. Soon after, he explained, “my cousin and I were on the boat preparing for 4 a.m. prayers when Israeli gunboats fired at us. We tried to escape, but they were only three meters away. We were both seriously injured, were arrested for several days, and our boat was taken and never returned.”

He continued, “Before we were shot, my cousin and I provided food to 100 people in our apartment building. But now we are disabled and can’t fish.”

Salah’s father, who is confined to a wheelchair, added, “Salah was the breadwinner for all of us and the most skilled fisherman of his brothers, but now he can’t walk and may never be able to fish again.”

Said Salah, “Now, I can’t keep my balance, can’t stand, and fall often. I have constant pain in my back along with dizziness and nausea.” With suppressed tears and a trembling voice, he continued, “All I can do is go to doctors’ appointments. I was shot for earning a living.”

Fishermen’s Syndicate head Nizar Ayyash reiterated that Salah’s experience is typical. “We are accustomed to frequent attacks and injuries. Thirty-seven fishermen have been arrested [in 2023 before the war]. Many were injured on an almost daily basis and 13 boats were being detained in Ashdod. Nafez suffered a very great loss.”

Khader Al-Saidi

Five years ago, Khader Al-Saidi, now 36, was attacked by four Israeli gunboats. Al-Saidi explained, “I was trying to escape, but they kept shooting until they hit me.

“The next thing I knew I was waking up rubbing my eyes. A doctor told me I had just undergone an eye operation. I was shocked. He told me that I would never see again.”

This was not Al-Saidi’s first such experience with the Israeli military. While fishing in 2018, he was assaulted and imprisoned for almost a year and a half. Once free, he returned to fishing — this is how he supported his wife, four young children, and parents.

His youngest son was born after he was blinded. Al-Saidi gave him his name, Khader, so that he could see himself in his child.

His 66-year-old mother lamented, “What can he do after they stole his eyes? What would it harm them if he were able to see and continue his work? He is now blind and his boat is being held in Israel.”

“I am not asking for my eyes,” Al-Saidi said. “I just want someone to support my children. I have accepted what happened to me, but I do not accept that my children go hungry.”

The fate of the fishermen

The fishermen have long demanded access to deeper waters and the ability to import the engines and equipment they need.

The Fishermen’s Syndicate has repeatedly called upon the Israeli authorities and the international community to stop the violations of human rights and to ensure the protection of fishermen who work in Israel’s designated “safe space.”

Yet since the war, the danger to these fishermen has grown exponentially and it is with foreboding that we consider their fates in the foreseeable future.

Thanks to fellow WANN writer Asma Abuamra, who served as an electronic intermediary with Nada’s mentor to help overcome internet connectivity issues.