Gaza Pockets Hit by Fishy Tunnels

As seen at TheMediaLine.org.

Fish smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Egypt are pushing down prices and hitting the pockets of local fishermen.

The, but Palestinian fishermen say the smuggled stock sold in local markets undercuts their local yield, which is limited by Israeli restrictions on Gazan movements at sea.

“[Gazans] can’t enter further into the sea to get more fish so it’s affecting both the volume and quality of fish,” Ghaidaa Al-Ameer, Manager-in-Charge of the Gazan office of PalTrade, a body representing Palestinian businesses, told The Media Line.

“It’s known that the fish are better quality further out at sea,” she said. “There’s also a sewage problem in Gaza which is affecting our sea and the fish, which might cause health issues.”

After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006 Israel restricted Gazan fishermen to 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the shore, claiming it would prevent the smuggling of weapons and ammunition into Gaza by sea. The limit has since been reduced to three nautical miles.

Nizar Ayyash, who heads the Fishermen Union in Gaza, told Palestinian news agency Ma’an that fish entering Gaza through tunnels was coming from Al-Arish and Port Said, sometimes at a volume of three tons a day.

Commonly considered an expensive delicacy in Gaza, fish is usually kept for special occasions and guests. High-quality fish can cost up to 180 shekels ($47) per kilogram.

Israel restricted the passage of goods into Gaza after Hamas was elected in 2006, and more severely when Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a June 2007 coup.

Israel and the United States define Hamas as a terror organization. The movement has refused to fall in line with international demands to recognize Israel, acknowledge previously signed agreements and renounce violence.

Since the Gaza Strip has been cut off from most goods, Palestinians have been using tunnels to bring basic goods from the Sinai Peninsula into the Gaza Strip.

The smuggled goods include household items, money, cigarettes, gasoline, livestock and even cars. Illegal materials have also been known to pass, such as drugs, terrorists, weapons and ammunition.

Israel is allowing a controlled flow of food, humanitarian goods and other products through its crossings with Gaza, but the Palestinians say it in insufficient to sustain the coastal enclave’s population of 1.5 million.

Al-Ameer said the tunnels were essential but problematic.

“Officially we’re against tunnel-trading because it’s creating an official type of trade but it’s not legitimate,” she said. “Nevertheless, with the current border closure, people are finding relief through the tunnel trade and some of our industries are dependent mostly on the tunnels for their raw materials and other products that can help them in their daily work.”

“It’s difficult to know what’s going in through the tunnels,” Al-Ameer added. “But after the war, overall, there was a large increase in trade through the tunnels,” she said, referring to the three-week Israeli military operation in Gaza last January.

“It’s a dilemma,” Al-Ameer added. “It’s not a normal situation where you can take action. We feel that the borders should open as they were previously and then people won’t have to use the tunnels anymore.”