Israeli Troops Accused Of Illegally Killing Gaza Fisherman
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released footage of what it said was the unlawful slaying of a Palestinian fishermen by Israeli troops last month.
The video, published Thursday on the online edition of the Haaretz daily and filmed on May 15 off the coast of Gaza, shows a fishing boat with three men on it sailing fast while it is flanked by an Israeli navy vessel. The fishing boat loses speed and one of the men signals to the Israeli navy boat to stop.
The navy boat approaches the fishing boat, where B’Tselem says 25-year-old Mohammed Baqer was lying severely wounded from live rounds of ammunition shot at the fishing boat by the navy vessel during the chase. He was taken to an Israeli hospital where he died shortly after the incident, according to Haaretz.
B’Tselem in a statement about the incident wrote that the fishing boat had attempted to escape the navy boat but that it was within the 3-mile parameter around Gaza where fishing in allowed. The Gaza Strip, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group, is under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade.
The B’Tselem statement offers conflicting information on when the shots were fired, stating in one section that the fishermen “ began escaping after the navy vessel opened fire on them,” but that “the soldiers on the boat shoted for the fishermen to halt and fired in their direction.”
The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s unit did not react to query on the incident by Haar
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
