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| A displaced Palestinian fisherman casts his net on the beach in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on 20 November 2025 (Eyad Baba/AFP) |
On the morning of 8 October, he set out from the shore of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on a small punt he had built himself. Shortly after, an Israeli naval vessel approached and ordered him to “surrender”.
Farhat was then detained, tortured, and threatened with arrest if he returned to fishing, before being released more than two months later, on Tuesday.
“I was fishing with another fisherman when we were suddenly approached by an Israeli naval vessel. They ordered us to remove our clothes, jump into the sea, and swim towards their vessel,” Farhat told Middle East Eye one day after his release.
“Once we were on board, they began interrogating us, asking where we lived, where we had been before we were displaced, and requesting personal details such as our ID numbers, age and mobile phone numbers. One of the soldiers photographed me with his phone.”
Another vessel then approached, and Farhat was transferred to it, where he was subjected to a second interrogation.
After the interrogation ended, Farhat and the other fisherman were released and instructed to head back toward the shore.
Approximately two minutes later, the naval vessel returned and stopped them again.
“One of the soldiers called me by name and ordered me to jump into the water and swim towards him, while telling the fisherman who was with me to return to shore. They then arrested me, blindfolded me, and handcuffed me,” Farhat said.
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| A fisherman paddles on a makeshift raft as a child swims behind him in Gaza City's main fishing harbour on 7 September 2024 (Omar al-Qattaa/AFP) |
At that moment, Farhat realised he was about to be detained.
He considered himself lucky, however, that he was not shot dead like many of his fellow fishermen.
Detention, torture
Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on 7 October 2023, the Israeli military has killed at least 230 Palestinian fishermen, according to the Palestinian Fishermen Syndicate.
Farhat was taken to a port he could not identify, before being transferred to Sde Teiman, a notorious Israeli detention facility where Palestinian detainees are subjected to severe torture.
“Throughout this entire period, I was wearing only shorts, without anything else, and the weather was extremely cold. But I wasn’t allowed to say a word,” he added.
When I arrived at Sde Teiman, they forced me to take off the shorts, searched me, and gave me prisoner clothing. There were around 150 Palestinian detainees in the prison with me, including fishermen and truck drivers, some of whom transported aid or goods.”
For the first 50 days of his detention, Farhat was kept in handcuffs at all times.
“You live 24 hours a day with your hands cuffed. We were forbidden from speaking, forbidden from leaning to either side, and forbidden from sleeping. We were not allowed a mattress. I slept on an iron mesh,” he added.
“Sometimes, due to extreme exhaustion, I would fall asleep or lean unintentionally, and they would immediately punish me, forcing me to stand for two or three hours.”
Over more than two months in custody, Farhat said he and his fellow fishermen were “treated as criminals”, despite never being formally charged.
During this period, he encountered numerous fellow fishermen held in the same facility. Many had been detained for fishing amid Israel’s imposed starvation of the Strip since March.
“On some nights, a unit they called the 'commando' would enter the prison and throw stun and smoke grenades on the prisoners. Most of the time, they forced us to remain kneeling,” ... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/treated-criminals-gaza-fishermen-risk-everything-at-sea