Fishermen in the small Palestinian enclave have long been subject to a strict Israeli ban on how far they can fish, but since the devastating war began on October 7, none have dared to venture beyond just about 100 meters from the shore.
The Israeli war, siege, and bombing for more than 3 months pushed the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Hamas movement, to the brink of famine, as United Nations assessments indicate that the residents of the Strip are at risk of famine.
For fishermen, who can barely make it through the first waves in the Mediterranean and cannot reach deeper waters, where there are larger quantities of fish, anything they catch is now important to preserve their lives and the lives of their families.
A carpenter said as he sat on the beach, holding a lone, emaciated crab that he had taken out of his net: “This is what we catch… very little, very little. We go 100 meters, very little. This is the catch. See?! We can’t feed our children.”
Young girls sat watching the carpenter as he worked, looking for
crumbs in the window, while he sorted them and hung them to dry.
Before the war, fishermen used motors in their small boats, which could sail several kilometers from the Gaza coastline.
Now they set off in pairs using oars, one paddling, while the other stands to cast the nets.
He added that when they reach a distance of more than 100 meters, Israeli forces sometimes fire shells at them to push them back to the beach, in light of increasing security concerns related to the war.
Ibrahim Al-Najjar, Abdul Rahim’s brother, who works with him in fishing, said: “This feeds five families, not one or two families… Despite what we are in, we also want to go fishing, we want to live.”
Extreme hunger
The reason why fishermen are willing to brave shellfire for such a small reward is clear in downtown Rafah, where people have lined up outside a charity kitchen. The children stood, their faces frowning, waiting to eat small amounts of lentils or pasta.
Muhammad Al-Shandaghli, one of the displaced people, said at the kitchen: “Our bodies are collapsing due to the lack of food. My children are sick from the lack of food. It is not enough. It is barely enough for two people and should be served for seven people. It is not even one meal.”
The Israeli attack on Gaza killed more than 24,280 people, according to health authorities in the Strip, and led to the displacement of most of the Strip’s 2.3 million residents from their homes.
Israel pledged to eliminate Hamas after gunmen from the movement killed more than 1,200 people and took 240 hostage during a surprise October 7 attack on towns in southern Israel.
A UN-backed report in December said Gazans were facing crisis levels of hunger with the risk of famine rising daily, and recent footage showed clashes as hundreds of people in Gaza City rushed to deliver scarce aid of flour.
At the charity kitchen, a woman named Umm Mustafa said she came very late, and the food ran out when she reached the front of the long line.
She said: “I don't know what to feed my children. My father is old and suffers from a heart condition. Schools only provide a bottle of water and two biscuits.”
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