Egyptian Naval Forces Open Fire at Palestinian Fishing Boat, Kill Two

According to Nizar Ayyash, the secretary of the Gaza fishermen's syndicate, the Egyptian Navy followed the fishermen’s boat and opened fire on them after they allegedly crossed into the Egyptian waters on Friday, presstv reported.

Ayyash added that the three fishermen were brothers and residents of Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement strongly condemned the brutal move by the Egyptian coast guard and called for the immediate release of the detained fisherman.

Coordinator of the Fishermen Committee Zakariya Baker told the Palestinian Ma'an news agency that the three fishermen entered the sea on Thursday evening and were fired at on Friday morning.

In November 2018, the Egyptian naval forces opened fire at a Palestinian fishing boat over the same allegation and killed a fisherman.

However, in January 2019, the Palestinian navy in Gaza saved six Egyptian fishermen after a storm dragged their boat into Palestinian waters.

The development comes as Israel has tightened its naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The regime entirely closed Gaza's offshore fishing zone last month.

Israel maintains a heavy naval presence off the coast of the impoverished Palestinian enclave, severely affecting the livelihood of some 4,000 fishermen and at least 1,500 more people involved in the fishing industry.

Over the past few years, Israeli forces have carried out more than a hundred attacks on Palestinian boats, arresting fishermen and confiscating boats.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since June 2007, which has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.

In another development, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Israeli authorities had either demolished or seized 22 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds, displacing dozens in two weeks.

In its bi-weekly report published on Saturday, the UN office said the demolitions occurred during the period from September 8 to 21 and displaced 50 people and affected 200 others.

Israeli authorities usually demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain.

Rights groups have time and again raised concern over procedure, which largely bars affected people from being heard before a judicial body, the report added.

Israelis also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own homes or pay the demolition costs to the municipality if they do not.

Not only Palestinians but also the international community considers Israel's demolition of Palestinian structures in the occupied territories illegal.

Palestinians say these demolitions facilitate Tel Aviv's seizure of the lands and allow Israel to tighten its grip on the West Bank and Jerusalem al-Quds.

Separately, several Palestinian and international non-governmental organizations called on Facebook to stop censoring Palestinians and Palestine advocates and to get rid of an Israeli member of the social media company's Oversight Board who has a history of censoring Palestinian social media content.

“Facebook's Oversight Board was created to address Facebook's content moderation issues – it is intended to act as an internal Supreme Court, making ‘final and binding decisions on whether specific content should be allowed or removed from Facebook and Instagram’,” said the organizations, Wafa news agency reported on Saturday.

The NGOs included the Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement (7amleh), the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“But we challenge the appointment of Emi Palmor, a former general director of the Israeli ministry of justice's Cyber Unit, to the Board. The unlawful work of the Cyber Unit under Palmor resulted in increased takedowns of thousands of pieces of Palestinian content and ‘imposed severe limitations on freedom of expression and opinion, especially about Palestine’,” they said.

The NGOs called on the social media firm to "remove hate speech – not censor Palestinians, and advocates of Palestinian rights, for speaking out about Palestinian experiences under occupation and apartheid".

"Members of the Oversight Board must be leaders experienced in upholding the rule of law and protecting human rights worldwide. Palmor's resume should immediately disqualify her,” said the organizations.

The NGOs further urged petitioners “to tell Facebook that they MUST focus on removing hate speech, not censoring valid speech by Palestinians and Palestine advocates – and that Emi Palmor has to go”.