The Palestinian center for human rights said the Israeli navy has kidnapped 29 fishermen, 14 of them on Saturday morning, and destroyed and confiscated nine fishing boats since it signed a truce agreement with the resistance in Gaza.
Released fisherman Ramez Baker, 41, told the center that on Saturday morning, December 2, 2012, he and his brother Rami were fishing on their boat along with three of their young cousins within a distance of three nautical miles off the coast of Gaza when the Israel naval forces hijacked their boat.
“In the morning, an Israeli gunboat encircled us, and naval soldiers opened fire around us before forcing us to take off our clothes and jump into the water until reaching the gunboat,” Baker said.
“After a while, the soldiers detained me, my brother and my three cousins, took us to the port of Ashdod and interrogated us, but later they released us in the evening while our boat is still in custody,”
In another incident, an Israeli gunboat hijacked two fishing boats belonging to fishermen Sabri Bakr, 52, and Eid Bakr, 23, as they were fishing about two and a half nautical miles off the coast of Gaza city.
The troops aboard the gunboat opened fire at the fishing boats damaging the boat engine of Eid Baker before they detained all the nine fishermen aboard the two boats.
They also confiscated the two boats and questioned the fishermen, but later they released only eight of them and kept fisherman Ammar Baker, 33, in detention, according to the Palestinian center for human rights.
The center condemned Israel for its persistence in attacking the Gazan fishermen despite its pledge to allow them to fish within a distance of six nautical miles according to its truce agreement with the resistance in Gaza.
It appealed to the international community and the high contracting parties to the fourth Geneva convention of 1949 to intervene immediately to end Israel’s violations against the Gazan fishermen and protect their right to fish freely in Gaza waters.