Scores of Gazans and foreign sympathizers on Monday boarded fishing boats with the intention of sailing six miles off the coast of the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israel-imposed sea blockade on the Palestinian coastal enclave.
“We want to show the world that there are people under occupation who are being starved in Gaza while the world is watching,” Ishraq Mahmoud, spokeswoman of the Palestinian Uprising Youth Coalition, which organized the event, told a press conference before embarking.
Israel currently limits all Palestinian fishing activity to six miles off the Gaza coast.
When it first imposed its blockade on the strip in 2006, Israel had specified a three-nautical-mile fishing zone for Palestinians.
Gaza fishermen complain that the measure has negatively affected their business, saying their annual haul of fish has since fallen from pre-blockade levels of some 4,000 tons to a current 1,500 tons.
Of the Gaza Strip’s almost two million inhabitants, some 40,000 earn their living through fishing, according to the Palestinian Fishermen’s Union.
Israel Radio reported earlier today that the Israeli navy had made preparations to deal with the fishing boats that planned to breach its maritime blockade on Monday.