"Israel" sets up sea radars tighten blockade on South Lebanon

 


"Lebanese fishermen are predicting even more difficult times ahead in the "cat and mouse" game they have been playing with the "Israeli" navy for the past six years. They say the "Israelis have set up offshore radars in south Lebanon's territorial waters to prevent fishermen from breaching a six-year-old sea blockade by sailing at night. One reported seeing satellite dishes fixed to floating barrels and buoys, complete with television screen and antennae, about four kilometers (2.5 miles) off the port of Naqoura. Rida, a father of five, and one of 500 fishermen in the southern port city of Tyre, is nervous when he casts his nets each evening even one kilometer (half a mile) off shore.

There is a real risk of being detained, even tortured or shot. "As soon as they see our fishing boats from their warships, the "Israelis, who are equipped with infra-red binoculars, approach or send their inflatable to arrest us," he told AFP. That is what happened on Saturday, to brothers Ahmad and Hussein Taha, aged 26 and 27. They did not get away quickly enough, and were detained and interrogated for seven hours before being released. Abbas, another fisherman from Tyre, has had the same experience. He tells how he had to swim for more than two miles in freezing water, while the "Israelis sprayed him with hot oil through hoses and bombarded him with rotten eggs, after which they arrested him and took him on board of their patrol boat".

"He was stripped to his underwear and a bag was put over his head. Sailors beat him with sand-filled tubes as he was interrogated. They took him to a cabin, which contained a detailed map of Tyre and where he was interrogated by navy officers about Lebanese army activities. "They promised me the earth and even said I would get permission to fish off the (northern "Israeli") port of Haifa if I provided them with information on a failed suicide operation two years ago against the "Israeli" navy," Abbas added. On that occasion a would-be suicide bomber of the Amal movement was killed by a shell before his explosive-packed boat could reach its target. Abbas and other fishermen know that they risk the same fate if they want to continue fishing activities, said Mohamad Bawab, head of the fishermen's union in Tyre. Since "Israel" imposed a partial sea blockade on southern Lebanese coasts, scores of fishermen have been injured by the "Israeli" navy. Twenty-one of them have been left permanently handicapped, according to Tyre port statistics. Ibrahim Muslimani, a fisherman who still has a bullet lodged in his shoulder, succeeded in securing a job at the Tyre port but many others like Hassan Tahan, 40, and Majed Bawab, 26, who were more severely injured, remain unemployed".