[News] Assault on Survival: What Israel’s Destruction of Gaza’s Fishing Industry Reveals

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/assault-on-survival-what-israels-destruction-of-gazas-fishing-industry-reveals/>
Assault on Survival: What Israel’s Destruction of Gaza’s Fishing Industry
RevealsFebruary 22, 2026
------------------------------
During the genocide, Palestinian fishermen risk their lives to feed
families and a community on the brink of famine. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour,
The Palestine Chronicle)

*By Palestine Chronicle Staff
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff>*

Gaza’s fishing collapse accelerates famine risks as siege policies
dismantle Palestinian food systems and enforce dependency.

Key Takeaways

   - Gaza’s fishing activity has fallen below 10 percent of prewar levels.
   - Most boats and maritime infrastructure have been destroyed or rendered
   unusable.
   - Extended maritime closures have effectively eliminated fishing for
   prolonged periods.
   - Protein shortages intensify as agriculture and fisheries collapse
   simultaneously.
   - Analysts argue the destruction reflects a long-standing policy of
   enforced dependency.
   - UN agencies say recovery requires a sustained ceasefire and safe
   maritime access.

A Lifeline Destroyed

Gaza’s fishing industry — once a vital source of affordable protein and
income — now operates at a fraction of its former capacity.

According to figures cited by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), fishing activity has dropped below 10 percent of prewar levels. FAO
assessments released a year ago documented widespread destruction of boats,
landing sites, storage facilities, and repair workshops.

Before the Israeli genocide started on October 7, 2023, more than 4,000
registered fishermen worked along Gaza’s coastline, supporting tens of
thousands of family members. Fishing was one of the enclave’s last
functioning local food systems in a territory heavily dependent on imports.

That system has effectively collapsed.
Dependency as Structure

Ramzy Baroud, journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, argues that
the destruction of Gaza’s fishing sector cannot be viewed as collateral
damage.

“This vulnerability is functional for Israel,” Baroud told Arab News
<https://www.arabnews.com/node/2633716/middle-east>, describing what he
views as a long-standing policy designed to prevent Palestinian
self-sufficiency.

Since 1967, he said, Israel has systematically constrained Palestinian
economic independence — first through labor dependency, later through aid
dependency under siege.

“Likewise, the fishing sector was deliberately crippled through direct
attacks on fishermen, including arrests, live fire, confiscation of
equipment, and the sinking or destruction of boats,” Baroud said.

Although the Oslo Accords formally granted Palestinians fishing rights up
to 20 nautical miles offshore, those provisions were rarely implemented.
Fishing zones were frequently reduced to three nautical miles and
periodically closed altogether.

Following October 2023, humanitarian organizations reported extended total
maritime closures, effectively banning fishing during large stretches of
the genocide.

“For Gaza, the sea represents freedom,” Baroud said. “All of Gaza’s other
borders are controlled by Israel, either directly or indirectly.”

He described the assault on the fishing sector as part of a broader
strategy aimed at severing Palestinians from remaining spaces of autonomy.

“The assault on Gaza’s fishing sector is therefore not incidental,” he
said. “It is about severing Palestinians from one of the few spaces not
entirely enclosed by walls, checkpoints, and military control.”
Collapse of Survival Systems

The destruction of fishing coincides with the devastation of agriculture,
livestock, and markets across the Strip.

UN OCHA’s Situation Report issued last January warned that despite
increased aid deliveries following ceasefire arrangements, food insecurity
remains severe. Local production systems have been shattered, leaving
households increasingly reliant on external assistance.

Fish once served as one of the few locally available proteins. Its near
disappearance has intensified malnutrition risks, particularly among
children.

“This is about denying Palestinians access to life itself — to survival,”
Baroud said.

He argues that the collapse of fishing deepens a cycle in which
Palestinians are forced to rely on humanitarian aid controlled at entry
points by Israel.

“The destruction of fishing forces Palestinians into deeper dependence on
humanitarian aid that Israel itself controls,” he said.

International humanitarian law obligates an occupying power to protect
civilian livelihoods and ensure access to food. Baroud maintains that
targeting subsistence activity cannot be justified.

“The systematic targeting of fishermen — who are civilians engaged in
subsistence activity — cannot be justified as a military necessity,
especially when it results in starvation and famine,” he said.
‘Reconstruction’ Without Freedom

FAO has stated it is prepared to assist in rebuilding Gaza’s fishing
sector, provided that sustained ceasefire conditions are maintained and
safe maritime access is restored.

But Baroud argues that reconstruction cannot succeed without structural
change.

“Only a measure of real freedom for Palestinians — freedom of movement,
access to land and sea, and the ability to import, export and produce
independently — can allow Gaza’s industries and economy to recover,” he
said.

Without ending the broader system of siege and restriction, he contends,
rebuilding boats and docks will not restore true food security.

Along Gaza’s coastline, broken hulls and torn nets now line the shore —
silent testimony to the dismantling of one of the enclave’s last
independent lifelines.

As famine warnings persist into 2026, the collapse of fishing stands as a
stark example of how the destruction of livelihoods translates directly
into hunger.

*(Arab News, PC, UN Reports)*
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