The two fishermen were identified as Karim and Mohamed Abu Hassan, who were arrested three miles away from the shore of the northern city of Beit Lahia
Israeli naval forces on Saturday detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to a local official.
The two fishermen were identified as Karim and Mohamed Abu Hassan, who were arrested three miles away from the shore of the northern city of Beit Lahia, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, an NGO, said in a statement.
The Israeli forces confiscated their boat and fishing equipment, the union said.
There was no comment from the Israeli Navy on the report.
After Israel's devastating 2014 military onslaught on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip (which left more than 2,150 Palestinians dead), Israel began to allow Palestinian fishermen to ply their trade up to six nautical miles off the coast (as opposed to three previously).
The United States will merge the U.S. Consulate General, which serves Palestinians, with its new embassy into a single diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday."This decision is driven by our global efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations," Pompeo said in a statement. "It does not signal a change of U.S. policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip."The consulate-general in Jerusalem is the top mission for Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem for their capital."We will continue to conduct a full range of reporting, outreach, and programming in the West Bank and Gaza as well as with Palestinians in Jerusalem through a new Palestinian Affairs Unit inside U.S. Embassy Jerusalem," Pompeo said.UN signs agreements with Israeli security firms: ReportHe said the Trump administration was committed to a peace effort between Israel and the Palestinians.U.S. President Donald Trump outraged the Arab world and stoked international concern by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May.The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest disputes between Israel and the Palestinians and Palestinian leaders accused Trump of sowing instability by overturning decades of U.S. policy.Palestinians, with broad international backing, seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed, as its "eternal and indivisible capital," but that is not recognized internationally. The Trump administration has avoided that description, and noted that the city’s final borders should be decided by the parties. The ongoing Gaza rallies and Palestine’s unsung heroes
US to merge Jerusalem consulate in to new embassy
The UN has recently signed agreements worth tens of millions of Israeli shekels with Israeli security companies headquartered in Africa, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday. According to the newspaper, the UN issued an emergency tender with a view to purchasing defense systems for UN bases and facilities. The UN reportedly approached firms from around the world specialized in making remote sensors capable of detecting precision-guided munitions. “Three of the five companies contacted by the UN were Israeli,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported.Russia and Turkey give more time for Idlib deal in Syria: UNAccording to the paper, the contract was ultimately won by Israeli company MER, with which the UN signed an $8-million deal for the next three years. Israeli water-treatment technology company Odis, meanwhile, reportedly won a separate UN tender worth $42 million. According to Israeli figures, Israeli companies sold a total of $52 million worth of products and services to the UN last year -- and this amount is reportedly expected to rise further in the coming period.Israeli company executives were reportedly introduced to UN officials by Israel’s delegation to the UN headed by Ambassador Danny Danon, who had organized several events to promote Israeli acquisition deals. The ongoing Gaza rallies and Palestine’s unsung heroes"Diplomacy offers numerous opportunities for the advancement of Israel and Israeli industry," Danon was quoted as saying by Yedioth Ahronoth. "I am proud of these Israeli companies for joining forces with the UN and becoming an integral part of the organization's activities worldwide," Danon asserted. There has been no comment from the UN regarding the newspaper’s assertions. The reported acquisition deals come as Israel tries to enhance its ties with African states in hopes of preempting African support for Palestinian statehood in UN forums. Israel frequently accuses the world body of harboring an "anti-Israel", "pro-Palestine" bias.
UN signs agreements with Israeli security firms: Report
In May of this year, Israel increased this to nine nautical miles.
One month later, however, Israel reduced this again to only three nautical miles in response to the launching of incendiary kites and balloons into Israel by Palestinian activists in Gaza.
The kite/balloon attacks came as part of ongoing Palestinian rallies along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone to protest Israel’s 12-year blockade of the coastal enclave.
Since the rallies -- which have continued on an almost-daily basis -- began on March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli troops deployed along the other side of the buffer zone.
Members of an Egyptian security delegation have met with senior Israeli officials to discuss the situation in blockaded Gaza, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) reported Friday.At a Thursday meeting in Israel, the Egyptian delegation -- which includes deputy intelligence chief Ayman Badie -- held talks with Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and senior officials from Israel’s Shabak security agency, according to the IBA.Thursday’s meeting came within the framework of ongoing efforts by Cairo to mediate a truce between Israel and Gaza-based resistance groups.Earlier this week, members of the same delegation met with officials from both Hamas -- which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007 -- and rival Palestinian faction Fatah.Israel has repeatedly threatened to launch a military offensive against Gaza if Palestinians do not stop holding weekly mass demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.Israel spying industry aids repressive regimes: HaaretzIsrael deploys fresh troops, tanks on Gaza’s outskirts
Egypt delegation meets Israel officials to discuss Gaza
Israel’s espionage industry aids repressive regimes around the world, including some Muslim and Arab states, according to an extensive investigation carried out by Israeli daily Haaretz, findings of which were published Friday. According to the newspaper, the investigation was based on 100 separate sources in 15 countries. “Findings show that Israeli industry has not hesitated to sell offensive capabilities to many countries that lack a strong democratic tradition -- even when they have no way to ascertain whether the items sold were being used to violate the rights of civilians,” Haaretz reported. According to testimony gathered during the investigation, Israeli surveillance equipment has been used to find and detain activists and dissidents in several countries. Israel deploys fresh troops, tanks on Gaza’s outskirtsThe investigation also found that Israeli firms had sold espionage equipment to buyers who were publicly known to be using them for malicious purposes. Israeli companies, the probe found, had sold spying and intelligence-gathering software to more than 25 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Arab world. These countries, according to Haartetz, include Bahrain, Indonesia, Angola, Mozambique, the Dominican Republic, Azerbaijan, Swaziland, Botswana, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua. The newspaper went on to say that the probe had corroborated earlier reports of Israeli sales to Mexico, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, South Sudan, Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Uganda, Nigeria, Ecuador and the United Arab Emirates, among others.US to merge Jerusalem consulate in to new embassyAccording to Haaretz, most of the employees with whom the newspaper spoke declined to have their testimonies appear in the report, mainly because they had signed strict non-disclosure agreements. Those who agreed to discuss their role in the industry, meanwhile, appear in the report under false names.“While some CEOs spoke, others preferred to toe the secrecy line and spout the usual response,” the paper asserted.The Israeli Defense Ministry, for its part, said in a statement: “The Defense Exports Control Agency operates under the aegis of the Supervision Law to safeguard Israel’s strategic interests. The supervision is carried out according to [international] conventions and is applied in the light of international standards.”It added: “The supervision policy is examined frequently in accordance with diverse considerations, including considerations of upholding human rights. The Foreign Ministry, which also attaches great importance to human rights, takes part in the decision-making process.”
Israel spying industry aids repressive regimes: Haaretz
Israel has deployed fresh troops and tanks to the Gaza-Israel buffer zone in anticipation of weekly Friday protests against its 12-year blockade of the Palestinian enclave.The Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) reported Friday that the army had deployed “large numbers in south”, referring to the region of Israel that borders Gaza.“The nature of the Israeli army's response to violence along the fence [i.e., buffer zone] is expected to change with the deployment of armor and engineering and artillery forces around Gaza,” the IBA reported.On Thursday, Israel’s Security Cabinet ordered the military to step up its response to ongoing Palestinian demonstrations -- now in their seventh month -- along the buffer zone.Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred near the buffer zone -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.Protesters demand the right to return to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.Israeli army to step up response to Gaza demonstrationsUN signs agreements with Israeli security firms: ReportIsraeli Knesset rebukes Lieberman over ‘terrorist’ jibePalestinian gov’t condemns Israeli attacks in Gaza
Israel deploys fresh troops, tanks on Gaza’s outskirts
Israel’s Security Cabinet on Thursday ordered the military to step up its response to ongoing Palestinian demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Israeli media reports.“Starting Friday, the military will intensify its response to airborne firebombs from Gaza and will extend its range of fire during protests along the border,” Israeli daily Haaretz reported.According to the new policy, Palestinian protesters will have to maintain a greater distance from the buffer zone -- otherwise, Israeli troops have been ordered to open fire.“The response to incendiary balloons and kites launched from Gaza will be more forceful,” the paper asserted.According to Haaretz, the Security Cabinet convened for five hours late Wednesday after a number of rockets were fired into Israeli territory from Gaza.Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett have both repeatedly called for a harsher military response to the ongoing rallies along the buffer zone.US to merge Jerusalem consulate in to new embassyMost other members of the Security Cabinet, however, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly want to avoid a broader military operation.Cabinet members were reportedly told not to speak to the media about issues discussed at the meeting.This did not prevent Housing Minister Yoav Galant, however, from making provocative comments to reporters."I am not commenting on the content of the cabinet discussions, but I can say one thing very explicitly: the rules of the game are about to change,” he said.“We will no longer accept the terror along the border fence,” Galant asserted.UN signs agreements with Israeli security firms: ReportIn a related development, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, threatened on Thursday to respond to any Israeli attack on Gaza.On its official website, the Brigades posted a brief video showing a Brigades fighter preparing to fire a salvo of rockets into Israeli territory.Since the rallies along the buffer zone began on March 30, more than 200 Palestinians have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire. Protesters demand the right to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel. They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.The ongoing Gaza rallies and Palestine’s unsung heroes
Israeli army to step up response to Gaza demonstrations