Gaza fishermen suffer for sewage

Palestinian boys carry Hamas flags as they lead a funeral procession yesterday in Jabalia of a man who was killed after being targeted by an Israeli airstrike late Sunday -- hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was scheduled to begin. A fresh 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza yesterday, paving the way for talks in Egypt aimed at a durable end to a month-long conflict that has wreaked devastating bloodshed. Photo: AFP

After spending two hours waist-deep in the sea, Sameer al-Hissi says his paltry haul of tiny fish is not the only consequence he and Gaza's fishermen are suffering from Israel's offensive.
Ashore, he lifts up his t-shirt to show red-brown blotches across his chest and stomach, the result, he says, of spending his mornings in a sea heavily tainted with smelly sewage since Israeli strikes knocked out the power station supplying electricity to treatment plants.
Following the plants' closure, levels of raw sewage released into the sea are higher, meaning smaller catches and the risk of illness.
"Sewage in the sea today is affecting people and the fish they eat," said the wiry 52-year-old, sat in the shade of an umbrella with the basket carrying the 14 tiny fish he caught.
Before the conflict erupted on July 8 he fished from his boat in Gaza port, going up to three nautical miles out to sea in accordance with the limit imposed by the Israelis.
Now he spends two hours every morning wading through the surf on the beach casting a small net to bring back food for his family. But he says that there are fewer and fewer fish to be caught off the beach because the raised level of untreated sewage is driving them further out to sea.