Hazem Gora’ani was critically wounded at 9AM this morning when the Israeli navy fired at his fishing boat. He was brought to Shifa’a hospital in Gaza City with serious head wounds where he underwent emergency surgery. His condition is currently too unstable to risk removing the pieces of shrapnel lodged in his brain. Gora’ani, age 26, was fishing from a small boat well inside the Israeli imposed fishing boundary of three nautical miles from shore when a navy speed boat approached. The soldiers attempted to arrest Gora’ani and his brother. They panicked and tried to sail towards the coast. In response the Israeli soldiers opened a barrage of fire, which critically injured Hazem and punctured a number of holes in his boat. Israel claims to have reduced the permitted fishing zone to 3 nautical miles offshore, but in fact is attacking Palestinian fishermen and other civilians inside of the stated limit. Some fishermen have even been attacked on shore. According to ISM activist Rada Daniell, “the biggest worry for every Gazan fisherman is the daily possibility of being shot and kidnapped by the Israeli sea patrols.†She went on to write for the Palestine Chronicle that for Gazan fishermen, “it is not easy to abandon even the most dangerous job when unemployment is at almost 50 percent and where 80 percent of people live below the poverty line.†In 2009 alone, the Israeli navy abducted 68 fishermen in Gazan waters and injured seven. Six other civilians were injured on shore and 29 fishing boats were confiscated. ISM
