How Israel uses Water as a Weapon against Palestinians: The Alliance's Fact

Fact

The Israeli navy regularly shoots at and arrests Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast and destroys and confiscates their vessels.

In 2019, 85% of fishermen suffered these violations. Israel opened fire 347 times and arrested and detained 35 fishermen, including three children. Nine of those arrested remain in Israeli prison. Israel wounded 21 people, confiscated 15 boats, destroyed 12 boats, and damaged 11 boats.

The Israeli authorities do not compensate fishermen for damages that occur during their seizure or while the boat is being held in Israel. Owners must forfeit their rights to compensation and release the Israeli military from responsibility for the damages.

Since 2000, the number of registered fishermen in Gaza has dropped from 10,000 to 2,000 actively fishing. The once prosperous fishing community (including 2,000 people working as vendors, equipment traders, and in boat maintenance) is now one of the poorest in Gaza. 95% of Gaza fishermen (and their 50,000 dependents) live below the poverty line—on less than $4.60 a day for food, housing, clothing, health care, and education. 

 Sources: Middle East Monitor, Gisha, Reliefweb, AlMezan

See this website for the entire fact list and one-page factsheets about Israel's control of water in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and illegal settlements.

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Gaza fisherman on 2 July 2019 (Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor) from the article: Israel arrested 35, wounded 21 fisherman in Gaza in 2019. Published January 6, 2020.

The Demolition of another Palestinian Well

Israeli Forces Destroy Palestinian Water Well

As the Dead Sea Dies...

As the Dead Sea dies, some Israeli officials smell tourist potential.

“Here at the Dead Sea, Israel could create the world’s first sinkhole park. It would not only be a unique experience for visitors: it could provide a significant economic boost to the region, the geologists point out.”

Dead Sea sinkholes look like ecological catastrophe. They’re an opportunity – Haaretz

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"How will the world's future generations look at us..?"

“In excess of 108,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage water flows into the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza. This is due to a lack of power for Gaza’s desalination plant and the lack of building material required to expand, both of which are due to Israel’s policies towards the besieged coastal enclave. The situation is so bad that not only is Gaza’s sea water heavily contaminated, leading to deaths as recently as last year, but also Israel’s Askalan (Ashkelon) based desalination plant periodically halts operations due to the pollution, showing that Israel is willing to put the purification of 20% of its own water at jeopardy in order to punish the Gaza Strip.”

Read this comprehensive article:

Israel is Systematically Poisoning One Million Palestinian Children

Palestinian medical workers tend to wounded children, members of a family where six were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip on November 14, 2019., AFP