The Times and Democrat · 2 December 1997

CP-1997-027

Off Gaza Strip, Israel rules the waves

By Laura King, Associated Press Writer

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Transcribed from the clipping

ABOARD ISRAELI PATROL BOAT WASP 906 – The crew scrambled into helmets and flak jackets, and a moment later came the order: “Fire!” The deafening boom of a 20 mm cannon echoed over the waves. The patrol boat had barely left harbor at the Israeli port of Ashdod, but within moments, it would be off the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip.

And it never ventures into those troubled waters without its weapons fully armed and tested. “We have to be ready for anything,” said the skipper, Navy Lt. Itai, whose full name could not be used under Israeli military regulations. The long and bitter quarrel of Israel and the Palestinians is firmly rooted in land, but it travels readily to the high seas.

To the Israelis, the Mediterranean Sea off Gaza is awash in potential threats — seaborne terrorists, drug smugglers, arms traffickers. So Israel shadows Gaza’s 20-mile coastline with patrol boats, and painstakingly tracks hundreds of vessels from radar stations on shore.

To the Palestinians, though, the Israeli naval presence is a constant reminder that a prime symbol of statehood — territorial waters under their own control — remains a distant dream. And as often happens, Israeli security concerns exact a high price from ordinary Palestinians — in this case, fishermen.

On a recent day in Gaza City’s main fish market, the day’s catch was meager but anger was in abundant supply. More than half the market stalls were shuttered, and only a few wooden pallets of fish lay scattered on the concrete floor. “It’s a siege at sea,” said Mustafa Omar Abu Al-Khaier, a fisherman for 29 of his 39 years.

Like his father and grandfather before him, he begins his workday long before dawn, catching shrimp and squid, sea bass and sole. He built the family business into a fleet of three boats and once had 42 crewmen in his employ. Now, he says, he has just seven — and wonders how long he can keep them.

Ironically, the fishermen say, the situation has worsened dramatically during the 3√ years of Palestinian self-rule in Gaza.

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