GT 5904.5 .G3 P68

- Inroduction 

This Special Report for the 2015 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights highlights severe human rights abuses suffered by Palestinian fishermen and the decimation of Palestine's fishing industry. The Special Report examines the position of American and Israeli gas companies operating within 13 nm of the Palestinian coast and Israel's brutal closure of Palestinian territorial waters to ensure the protection of gas platforms and pipelines operated by the companies in Palestine's maritime waters. All aspects of the Palestinian fishing industry have been impacted from attacks on fishermen, willful killing, unlawful detentions, and the forced removal of fishermen from occupied territory. The closure of Gaza's sea and land buffer has crippled the economy and reduced the supply of fish, a protein rich source of food, to the point that 57 percent of the population in the Gaza Strip, are currently food insecure. In addition, Israel's repeated military offensives on the Gaza Strip targeting vital infrastructure and causing deliberate damage to sewage facilities has had serious environmental consequences destroying vital fish habitats.