When Israeli airstrikes destroyed his fishing boat and gear, Ismail Farhat lost more than equipment, he lost the last fragile barrier between his family and hunger. Yet even after everything was reduced to rubble, he returned to the sea. For Farhat, fishing was not a livelihood to abandon; it was survival itself.
Early on October 8, Farhat pushed off from the coast of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza using a small wooden punt he had constructed with his own hands. His attempt to catch fish lasted only minutes. An Israeli naval vessel approached and ordered him to “surrender.”
That encounter marked the beginning of more than two months of detention, abuse, and threats—ending with a warning that returning to the sea could cost him his life.
“I was fishing with another fisherman when we were suddenly approached by an Israeli naval vessel. They ordered us to remove our clothes, jump into the sea, and swim towards their vessel,” Farhat said during an interview with Middle East Eye.
“Once we were on board, they began interrogating us, asking where we lived, where we had been before we were displaced, and requesting personal details such as our ID numbers, age and mobile phone numbers. One of the soldiers photographed me with his phone.”
Farhat said he was later transferred to a second military vessel, where another interrogation followed. He and the other fisherman were then released and instructed to return toward shore.
The reprieve lasted only moments.
“One of the soldiers called me by name and ordered me to jump into the water and swim towards him, while telling the fisherman who was with me to return to shore. They then arrested me, blindfolded me, and handcuffed me,” he said.
“They began insulting and beating me. As usual, they accused every fisherman of being affiliated with Hamas. They told me I was Hamas and pretending to be a fisherman. Every time I raised my head or spoke a word, they beat me and insulted me with obscene language.”
At that point, Farhat said, he understood that he was no longer being questioned—he was being taken away. He later reflected that many fishermen never make it back at all.
Inside Detention
Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 230 Palestinian fishermen have been killed, according to the Palestinian Fishermen Syndicate.
Farhat was transported to a port he could not identify before being moved to Sde Teiman, an Israeli detention facility widely known for severe mistreatment of Palestinian detainees.
“Throughout this entire period, I was wearing only shorts, without anything else, and the weather was extremely cold. But I wasn’t allowed to say a word,” he said.
“When I arrived at Sde Teiman, they forced me to take off the shorts, searched me, and gave me prisoner clothing. There were around 150 Palestinian detainees in the prison with me, including fishermen and truck drivers, some of whom transported aid or goods.”
For the first 50 days, Farhat remained shackled.
“You live 24 hours a day with your hands cuffed. We were forbidden from speaking, forbidden from leaning to either side, and forbidden from sleeping. We were not allowed a mattress. I slept on an iron mesh,” he said.
“Sometimes, due to extreme exhaustion, I would fall asleep or lean unintentionally, and they would immediately punish me, forcing me to stand for two or three hours.”
Farhat said fishermen were held without charge, subjected to constant punishment, and denied basic medical care.
“On some nights, a unit they called the ‘commando’ would enter the prison and throw stun and smoke grenades on the prisoners. Most of the time, they forced us to remain kneeling,” he said.
“When we became ill or suffered pain, we would ask for a painkiller, but they would completely refuse, leaving us for days without any medication.”
Sector Erased
During his detention, Farhat encountered fishermen of all ages—some as young as 16, others in their mid-50s. None of them, he said, have been released.
“We risked our lives simply to provide food for our families. We know that this profession usually leads to detention, injury, or death,” he said.
Farhat was released on December 16 as part of a ceasefire agreement.
By then, Gaza’s fishing industry had been almost entirely dismantled. Zakaria Bakr, head of the Fishermen Union Committees in Gaza, said more than 95 percent of the sector has been destroyed.
“Since the start of the war and to this day, the permitted fishing area has been reduced to zero. A complete naval closure has been imposed from the first day, including after the ceasefire,” Bakr said.
Boats, storage facilities, Gaza Port, the ice factory, and the fish market have all been damaged or destroyed. Under the Oslo Accords, Palestinian fishermen were theoretically allowed to fish up to 20 nautical miles offshore—a right that was never realized.
“During the war, the Israeli navy’s primary response was shooting and killing,” Bakr said. “As a result, 65 fishermen were killed while actively working at sea.”
After the ceasefire, arrests replaced gunfire. At least 28 fishermen were detained, with only one later released.
Hunger as Policy
Even before the war, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s fishermen lived below the poverty line. Today, only 400 to 500 people remain loosely connected to fishing.
“They now work using makeshift platforms reconstructed from destroyed boats, and sometimes even from refrigerator doors,” Bakr said.
Fish production has fallen to less than two percent of pre-war levels. Daily catches that once reached 15 tons have dropped to just 16 kilograms.
“No one is allowed to enter the sea,” Bakr said. “This is collective punishment.”
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