“This is not about security,” said the head of Gaza’s fishers’ union. “It’s economic, social, and psychological warfare, a weapon of slow, deliberate suffocation.” 

By Brett Wilkins – Common Dreams

Israel has warned Gazans to stay out of the Mediterranean Sea or risk getting killed under wartime restrictions that critics say serve no security purpose and are meant to deprive Palestinians of a key source of sustenance — and respite from the horrific realities of 21 months of constant death and destruction.

“Strict security restrictions have been imposed in the maritime area adjacent to Gaza—entry to the sea is prohibited,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on the social media site X Saturday. “This is a call to fishermen, swimmers, and divers — refrain from entering the sea. Entering the beach and waters along the entire Gaza Strip endangers your lives.”

While Israel has imposed a maritime blockade on Gaza since 2007 following Hamas’ victory in legislative elections and subsequent takeover of the coastal enclave, restrictions were tightened after the Oct, 7, 2023 attack as part of the “complete siege” that has caused deadly malnutrition throughout the strip, where Israel’s 646-day U.S.-backed onslaught has left more than 211,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

However, the IDF appears to have not enforced the post-Oct. 7 ban on entering the sea against swimmers and bathers. Only Palestinian fishers have been targeted, with more than 210 killed since October 2023, according to United Nations data.

“We live off the sea. If there’s no fishing, we don’t eat,” Munthir Ayash, a 52-year-old fisher from Gaza City, told the Emirati newspaper The National Monday. “Me, my five sons, and their families—45 people in total—depend entirely on the sea. With it closed, we face starvation.”

It is unclear why the IDF issued Saturday’s warning, which came amid excessive heat warnings as temperatures rose to over 30°C (86°F). With Gaza’s infrastructure obliterated by 21 months of Israeli onslaught and safe running water in severe shortage, the Mediterranean Sea provided a place to cool off and clean up.

“I used to go every day. The sea was where I bathed, where I relaxed, where I ran from the horror of war,” Ibrahim Dawla, a 26-year-old Palestinian man forcibly displaced from Gaza City’s Zaytun, told The National. “Now even that’s gone.”…

https://consortiumnews.com/2025/07/14/israel-bans-gazans-from-entering-sea-under-pain-of-death/

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