"This is Qais, 14, from Aboud near Ramallah. A 9th grader. Active in his church. A child who should be in school today. Instead, Israeli soldiers kidnapped him from his home this morning. Family traumatized. Pray for his release." Rev. Munther Isaac منذر اسحق

Alison Weir reposted

Munther Isaac منذر اسحق

@MuntherIsaac

This is Qais, 14, from Aboud near Ramallah. A 9th grader. Active in his church. A child who should be in school today. Instead, Israeli soldiers kidnapped him from his home this morning. Family traumatized. Pray for his release.

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

‘Treated as criminals’: Gaza fishermen risk everything at sea Facing starvation, Palestinians turn to the sea to feed their families, risking imprisonment or death

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)

By Maha Hussaini in Gaza City and Mohammed al-Hajjar in Nuseirat

Published date: 22 December 2025 

 

Even after Israeli bombardments destroyed his fishing boat and equipment, Ismail Farhat returned to the sea. Fishing was not a choice for him; it was how he kept his family fed.

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.

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)

“They began insulting and beating me. As usual, they accused every fisherman of being affiliated with Hamas. They told me I was Hamas and pretending to be a fisherman. Every time I raised my head or spoke a word, they beat me and insulted me with obscene language.”

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 

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

 

Fishermen pull their nets to retrieve their catch on a beach in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on 30 August 2025 (Eyad Baba/AFP)

Israel has kidnapped Mandla Mandela grandson of Nelson Mendala for standing against apartheid in Palestine

Global Sumud Flotilla Commentary

@Globalsumudf 

  Israel has kidnapped Mandla Mandela grandson of Nelson Mendala for standing against apartheid in Palestine

SOUTH AFRICA demands the RELEASE of Nelson Mandela's Grandson Mandla, who was ABDUCTED on the Global Sumud Flotilla

"A ripple effect- They may not have reached Gaza's shores, but the crew still delievered... For the first time sine October 2023 Palestinain could fish without being shot at by the Israeli navy (they've been too busy chasing the flotillas)."

OFFICIAL UPDATE FROM GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA 

Organization CONFIRMS the Israeli naval forces illegally intercepted and boarded the Global Sumud Flotilla’s vessel Sirius along with other boats in international waters. 

 38 PEOPLE from 16 COUNTRIES KIDNAPPED

The people of Gaza thank the Global Sumud Flotilla for giving them an opportunity to fish by distracting the occupation forces whose mission is genocide by hunger.

 Global Sumud Flotilla Commentary

@Globalsumudf

 

Images of activists Rima Hassan and Greta Thunberg have emerged as they are being deported — both smiling defiantly. 

 

Their courage exposes the injustice of a system that deports those bringing aid, while protecting those enforcing an illegal siege. 

 

You can detain people, but you can’t deport the truth

 

Middle East Eye

@MiddleEastEye

“From the sea to Gaza - we will not forget you. We will not let you be forgotten. This is the voice of humanity.” 

 

These were the last words recorded from the Marinette, the last active boat of the Global Sumud Flotilla, before Israeli forces intercepted them on Friday. 

 

With roughly 500 participants from different countries aboard at least 42 vessels, the Global Sumud Flotilla set out carrying humanitarian aid in an historic effort to open up a humanitarian corridor in the Gaza strip.   

 

It was the largest civilian-led initiative ever to try and break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.   https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/1974069720119656459

  

 

Israeli Embassy in Athens under siege last night as the city comes out to protest the holocaust in Gaza and the IDF kidnapping of comrades on the Global Flotilla.

Reporter: “Why do you think so many countries and governments around the world are just ignoring what’s happening in Gaza?” Greta Thunberg: “Because of racism.”

Mike Hanini Odetalla

optensodSrm815914lh7l3l1a94c1hihmuu65ci0am9f25221u63afiach0u  ·

She said out loud what we Palestinans have been screaming for years!

 

It's the racism stupid!

 

Reporter: How did the Israelis treat you, we saw them giving sandwiches?

 

Greta Thunberg: They probably have posted lots of PR stunts, they did an illegal act by kidnapping us in international waters but that’s not the real story here. The real story is the genocide in Gaza and systematic starvation.

 

Reporter: Are you worried about the others?

 

Greta: Yes…I’m calling for everyone who can to mobilize to demand their immediate release and, of course, to demand not only humanitarian aid being let into Gaza but also a ceasefire and most importantly an end to the occupation, an end to the systemic oppression and violence that Palestinians are facing on an everyday basis.

 

Reporter: “Why do you think so many countries and governments around the world are just ignoring what’s happening in Gaza?”

 

Greta Thunberg: “Because of racism.