Arya News - Early in the morning, fisherman Ahmad Rashad al-Hissi and four of his relatives pushed out to sea in search of the only reliable source of fresh food in Gaza.
Early in the morning, fisherman Ahmad Rashad al-Hissi and four of his relatives pushed out to sea in search of the only reliable source of fresh food in Gaza.
That was a month ago – and they’ve not been seen or heard from since.
No boats, bodies or wreckage were found. Their loved ones fear Mr al-Hissi and his relatives were arrested at sea by Israeli forces and are currently languishing in prison. The IDF declined to comment on the missing individuals.
If that does turn out to be the case, it will bring the number of Gazan fishermen detained since the Oct 11 ceasefire to 16, according to local industry representatives. That comes, allegedly, on top of the 65 shot dead while fishing since the beginning of the war.
The sea has been off limits in its entirety to Gazans since Hamas used boats on Oct 7 to land gunmen on an Israeli beach north of the Strip, where they massacred 17 civilians.
Before that, fishing was technically allowed up to six nautical miles offshore, but in 2018, it was restricted to three nautical miles under a naval blockade. Israel has always argued that the blockade was necessary for containing the violent terror group.
But despite the ban – and the risks – Gazans are still going into the waters to fish.
For al-Hissi’s family, that has meant having no word of the fisherman or his relatives.
‘Living in constant anxiety’
Umm Muhammad, Mr al-Hissi’s wife, told The Telegraph: “We have all been waiting to hear good news about him.
“The family is living in constant anxiety about Ahmad’s fate and that of his brothers, as more than four weeks have passed since their arrest without any information about their detention.”
Israel argues that they have only arrested Gazans who are out fishing when they have come too close to their warships. It’s not clear if this happened in Mr al-Hissi’s case.
An IDF spokesman said: “In the maritime arena, security restrictions have been imposed on the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s use of naval assets, including fishing boats during the October 7th attack.
“In line with the decision of the political leadership, these restrictions remain in effect due to the ongoing and significant threats Hamas continues to pose from the maritime domain. The area has been designated as a combat zone, and the civilian population in Gaza has been informed of the restrictions.”
For those desperate for food and business, fishermen have played a cat-and-mouse game with Israel’s navy.
Videos have emerged allegedly showing the IDF opening fire on unarmed fishermen at sea and arresting them directly from their boats.
TRT World
In June 2024, a senior UN official said he witnessed Israeli tanks killing two men who were standing in the water fishing with nets.
According to both Mr Al-Hissi’s wife and his cousin, Mohammed Murad al-Hissi, the couple has lost two sons to Israeli shooting at sea before the war, one in 2017 and one in 2020.
“We work according to the mood of the Israeli police,” he said. “Sometimes they are in a good mood and let us fish, but when they’re in a bad mood, they shoot at us and arrest us.
“During the first three months of the war, my son was killed by Israeli police gunfire at sea and a 20-metre boat destroyed. The suffering at sea is immense.”
Since the ceasefire, the shootings have stopped, according to the fishermen interviewed by The Telegraph, but the arrests have continued.
Israeli navy ships conduct ongoing patrols off the coastline of Gaza as part of the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip - Eyad Baba/AFP
Another fisherman of the al-Hissi family, Mohammed Rajab, 33, explained the various methods his colleagues use to stay safe, including venturing out in groups so that they can assist each other in an emergency.
“We try to maintain a peaceful appearance so the Israeli police will be reassured that we are peaceful fishermen,” he said.
“We go out with a white flag on our boats, making sure the beach is clear of people to avoid suspicion and create a sense of security so the naval police can be certain we are just fishermen.”
Basel Hossam Bakr, 24, a resident of the Shati refugee camp, has worked at sea on and off since he was a child.
He said: “Seeing Israeli naval vessels advancing towards the fishermen is terrifying. Going to sea is still prohibited, but we risk our lives and try not to go beyond 5,000 meters. We’re only fishing in the sea, within the port basin.”
Gazan fishermen risk their lives every day as they carry nets into the sea in search of the only reliable source of fresh food - Eyad Baba/AFP
Along with Ahmad al-Hissi, the other men who disappeared at sea on Nov 4 are claimed to be Muhammad al-Hissi, Mahmoud al-Hissi, Alaa Rajab al-Hissi, and Muhammad Ahmed Talba.
The Telegraph provided their names to the IDF and the date of their disappearance, but the military provided no information about them either.
As of May this year, Israel had detained around 6,000 people under its “unlawful combatants” legislation, official data reportedly showed. The laws allow the authorities to hold detainees indefinitely without charge or trial.
An investigation by Western and Israeli outlets earlier this year indicated that one in four of these were believed to be terrorists.
The fishermen in Gaza have lost millions of dollars’ worth of equipment during the war - NurPhoto/AFP
The fishermen of Gaza have lost tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment during the war, while the port of Gaza City was destroyed.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, which claims it has evidence that fishermen were killed metres from the shore, Gaza’s fishing industry yielded more than 4,600 tonnes of produce annually before the war, playing a significant role in alleviating poverty in the Strip.
In June, the take-up was down to roughly 7.3 per cent of the pre-war haul.
The US, Israel and other Middle Eastern countries are currently trying to negotiate a way ahead for the Strip.
Although Donald Trump has said that phase 2 of his peace plan, involving interim governance and rebuilding , will start within weeks, there is currently no known plan to dislodge Hamas.
As such, most reconstruction planning is being devoted to the part of Gaza currently under IDF control – the so-called green zone – where only a handful of civilians currently live.
While Hamas – significantly degraded by two years of war, but not defeated – hangs on to power, the naval blockade will continue and with it, most likely, the occasionally lethal cat-and-mouse game with Israel’s maritime forces.
Whatever the fate of the fishing industry in Gaza, Mrs al-Hizzi just wants news that her husband is alive and well.
“He was very tired from the famine and worries of war,” she said. “I am afraid that his condition will worsen in harsh prison conditions.”
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