Israel Returns Boat to Gaza Fisherman After Court Order

Several thousand Gazans depend on fishing for their livelihoods but often changing Israeli restrictions have led to prolonged layoffs that mean many live below the poverty line | AFP
Several thousand Gazans depend on fishing for their livelihoods but often changing Israeli restrictions have led to prolonged layoffs that mean many live below the poverty line | AFP
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Israel Returns Boat to Gaza Fisherman After Court Order

Several thousand Gazans depend on fishing for their livelihoods but often changing Israeli restrictions have led to prolonged layoffs that mean many live below the poverty line | AFP
Several thousand Gazans depend on fishing for their livelihoods but often changing Israeli restrictions have led to prolonged layoffs that mean many live below the poverty line | AFP

Israel returned a boat to a Gaza fisherman it had seized for allegedly breaching the limits of the Palestinian enclave's fishing zone, an NGO said Sunday, following an Israeli court order.

Israeli authorities had called for the vessel, belonging to fisherman Mohammad al-Hissi, to be permanently confiscated, triggering fears of more such seizures off the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.

But a Haifa court last month ordered that the boat be returned to Hissi even as legal proceedings continued, according to Gisha, the Israeli group defending the Gazan.

Hissi received his vessel on Friday, Gisha said.

According to Miriam Marmur, public advocacy director at Gisha, the Israeli navy had seized Hissi's boat in November 2022.

She also told AFP the navy had seized another boat belonging to Hissi's relative Jihad al-Hissi in February 2022 -- but it had been released in September.

The court case against Israeli authorities demanding the two boats be permanently seized is ongoing, Marmur added.

While it ordered the boats be returned until the end of proceedings, "the court also subjected the release of the boats to onerous conditions, including a substantial financial deposit", Gisha said in a separate statement.

Mohammad al-Hissi was unreachable for comment but his relative Jihad said the court order was still "unfair".

"The decision is unfair because we paid a large amount of money in addition to our loss of not being able to fish" since the boats were seized, he told AFP.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army had no immediate comment.

The navy had seized the vessels off Gaza, claiming they had breached restrictions enforced by Israel.

The authorities later called for the boats to be permanently confiscated in what Gisha said was a "first of its kind" request.

"Israel has no authority to seize boats engaging in fishing for sustenance and income in Gaza's sea space, much less to permanently confiscate them," Gisha said.

The issue is crucial for thousands in the blockaded Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people, where fishing in the Mediterranean Sea remains one of the few economic lifelines.

The fishing zone allowed by Israel currently extends only to the heavily fished areas between six and 15 nautical miles (about 11 to 28 kilometres) off the Gaza coast.

The court battle comes amid a rise in Israel's temporary seizures of fishing boats suspected of smuggling or breaching the fishing zone.

Last year saw 23 boat confiscations, the highest number since 2018, according to the Palestinian non-governmental group Al Mezan.

Israel says its land, air, and sea blockade of Gaza is needed to protect it from rocket and other attacks from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the enclave.

Palestinians argue it is an effective siege that has crippled Gaza's economy and further impoverished its people.



Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
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Syria Says Deadly Israeli Strikes a 'Blatant Violation'

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Syria on Thursday condemned deadly Israeli strikes across the country as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty, after Israel said it struck "military capabilities".

Syrian state media said the strikes hit close to a defense research center in Damascus, among other sites, while a war monitor reported four dead in the latest Israeli attack on Syria since the opposition factions ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

"In a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty, Israeli forces launched airstrikes on five locations across the country," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

"This unjustified escalation is a deliberate attempt to destabilize Syria and exacerbate the suffering of its people."

It said the strikes resulted in the "near-total destruction" of a military airport in central Syrian province Hama, injuring dozens of civilians and soldiers.

Syria's SANA news agency reported a strike that "targeted the vicinity of the scientific research building" in Damascus's northern Barzeh neighborhood, and a raid in the vicinity of Hama, without specifying what was hit.

The Israeli military said in a statement that forces "struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian bases of Hama and T4, along with additional remaining military infrastructure sites in the area of Damascus".

Israel has said it wants to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of the new authorities, whom it considers extremists.

The Syrian ministry said the strikes came as the country was trying to rebuild after 14 years of war, calling it a strategy to "normalize violence within the country".

Last month, Israel said it struck the T4 military base in central Homs province twice, targeting military capabilities at the site.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said that "four people were killed and others wounded, including Syrian defense ministry personnel, in the strikes on Hama military airport".

Buffer zone

The monitor said those raids, which targeted "remaining planes, runways and towers, put the airport completely out of service," also reporting that the Damascus strikes targeted the research center in Barzeh.

In the days after Assad's fall on December 8, the Britain-based Observatory reported Israeli strikes targeting the center.

Western countries including the United States had previously struck the defense ministry facility in 2018, saying it was related to Syria's "chemical weapons infrastructure".

Also since Assad's fall, Israel has deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights and called for the complete demilitarization of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan.

Authorities in south Syria's Daraa on Telegram late Wednesday said that several Israeli military vehicles entered an area in the province's west, reporting that "three (Israeli) artillery shells" targeted the area.

The Observatory has reported repeated Israeli military incursions into southern Syria beyond the demarcation line in recent months.

Last month, during a visit to Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that Israeli strikes on Syria were "unnecessary" and threatened to worsen the situation.