Following legal action, Israel returns boat to Gaza fisherman after holding it illegally for three years

03/07/2019

Gisha, Adalah, and Al Mezan filed Supreme Court petition; Israel says it will return another 65 boats and fishing vessels seized from Gaza fishermen within the next four months.

On Sunday, 1 July 2019, following a prolonged legal battle led by three human rights organizations, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Israel returned a boat to a Gaza fisherman after seizing and holding it without legal authority for three years.

Abdel Ma'ati Habil’s boat is returned to the Gaza Strip on 1 July 2019. (Photo courtesy of Al-Tawfiq Fishermen Association in Gaza)

As part of the legal proceedings, Israeli authorities notified the Israeli Supreme Court two weeks ago that it will return another 65 boats and fishing vessels seized from Gaza fishermen within the next four months.

In a Supreme Court petition submitted in January 2019 on behalf of Gaza fisherman Abdel Ma'ati Habil, whose boat was seized by the Israeli navy in September 2016 and returned to Gaza on Sunday, Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan demanded that Israel immediately return all boats seized from Gaza fishermen, along with their equipment.

In the past, Israel has returned boats to fishermen without the equipment that was on board at the time they were seized. In its response (Hebrew) of 13 June 2019, Israel notified the court that it would return Habil's boat "within two weeks" and that the process of returning the rest of the boats to the Strip, by sea, would be completed "in about four months."

Habil's boat sustained considerable damage from live fire during its seizure by the Israeli navy, and during the three years it was held without maintenance, to the point that it could not be returned to the Strip by sea. Israel transported the boat by land to Kerem Shalom Crossing on Sunday. The boat's journey from the crossing to the Gaza Port took another seven hours due to logistical challenges. Israel restricts, and even prohibits, the entrance of materials and equipment that it considers to be "dual-use," including spare parts for boat engines and fiberglass, making it difficult to repair boats, including those damaged by the navy. Habil estimates that repairing the damage to his boat will cost over $45,000.

Abdel Ma'ati Habil’s boat is brought overland to the Gaza port for repairs on 1 July 2019. (Photo courtesy of Al-Tawfiq Fishermen Association in Gaza)

Israel routinely seizes boats from fishermen in Gaza and holds them for months, even years, without any legal authority and in violation of international law. This punitive, violent and illegal measure causes severe harm to the fishing industry and to Gaza's economy, and must be stopped.