Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said on Saturday that it documented 172 Israeli violations against Gaza fishermen during the first half of 2020.

In a released statement, the Center considered that these violations confirm the results of previous issued studies and reports on the efforts of the occupation forces to destroy the fishing sector in Gaza.

The violations are represented in main ways, including restricting the fishing area permitted to work in, shooting at fishermen while being on boats, killing, injuring, and detaining them. They also include seizing fishing boats and equipment and sabotaging fishing nets, generators, and light signals.

The Center pointed out that these violations have negatively affected the numbers of workers in the fishing sector, as the number of fishermen and workers in trades related to fishing for the year 2019 in the Gaza Strip reached (5606) workers, among them (3606) fishermen. In contrast, the number of workers in the same sector in 1997 was 10000, according to previous statistics of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

"Because of these continuous violations, workers in general, and fishermen in particular, are among the poorest in Gaza, which in turn affects the human rights of these workers and their families, as well as the food basket of the general population," said the center.

In addition, it clarified that this sector is considered one of the sources of the Palestinian economy in Gaza, as it provides job opportunities whether in the fishing itself or jobs related to it, such as manufacturing and maintenance of boats, equipment and nets, and fish trade and related transport operations and others. Consequently, it participates in supporting the gross national product (GNP), and the population’s food basket.