JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to energise supporters on the eve of Tuesday’s elections with warnings and controversial promises, while his centrist challenger urged voters to tell the premier the country has had enough.
The general election — in which Netanyahu is seeking to extend his 13 years in office despite corruption allegations against him — is expected to be close, as ex-military chief Benny Gantz poses a serious challenge.
The two men spent the campaign’s final hours exhorting voters with two different strategies: Netanyahu repeatedly warned that his Likud was at risk of losing, while Gantz made the case that Israel was on the verge of historic change.
The truth was more complicated, with opinion polls giving Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White a similar number of seats in the 120-seat parliament.
Under those polls, both would fall far short of an outright majority and would need to pull together a coalition.
If polling trends hold, Netanyahu would be best placed to build an alliance thanks to smaller right-wing parties close to him.
But there have been repeated warnings about opinion polls’ historical unreliability and the fact that many voters say they remain undecided.
Netanyahu’s claims that Likud may lose were widely seen as a way to encourage his base to turn out.
Netanyahu has made last-minute appeals to the right, issuing a deeply controversial pledge to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank.
If done on a large-scale, applying Israeli sovereignty there could extinguish remaining hopes for a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
In an interview on Sunday, Netanyahu said US President Donald Trump, who is expected to release his long-awaited deal for Israeli-Palestinian peace sometime after the election, was aware of his plans.
Netanyahu said he planned to apply sovereignty gradually, and that he did not differentiate between Israel’s large West Bank settlement blocs and the isolated ones located deep in the territory on land the Palestinians see as part of a future state.
“Who else can do this? Who can do this? Come on. Honestly,” Netanyahu said, making the case as he has throughout the campaign that he is Israel’s essential statesman.
“Who can stand in front of the world? Who can stand in front of the American Congress? Who can move public opinion in that direction?“
Gantz has called Netanyahu’s pledge an “irresponsible” bid for right-wing votes.
He says he favors a “globally backed peace agreement” that sees Israel hold on to the large settlement blocs in the West Bank and maintain security control over the territory.
Gantz has also highlighted his security credentials while saying he will heal divisions he accuses Netanyahu of exacerbating.
“There’s a need for change and an opportunity for change,” Gantz told Israel’s army radio on Monday.
“Israel needs to choose a direction of unification, connection and hope — or of extremity.”
The two were also engaging in typical pre-election campaigning, including Gantz riding a motorcycle to his rally on Sunday and Netanyahu visiting Jerusalem’s main market on Monday.
“The only way to close the gap and to ensure that Likud will form the next government for sure is to have a big Likud,” Netanyahu told supporters at the market.
Gantz said Monday at his party headquarters in Tel Aviv that supporters had to make sure “everyone goes to the polling stations because we are going to serve all voters from the right and from the left, all of the Israeli citizens.”
Netanyahu will be on track to surpass founding father David Ben-Gurion as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister should he win on Tuesday.
But even if he triumphs, he faces the prospect of becoming the first sitting prime minister to be indicted.
The attorney general has announced he intends to indict Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust pending an upcoming hearing.
The premier’s opponents have seized on the allegations to argue that the 69-year-old Netanyahu has lost his way and must go.
But the premier has been defiant, calling the investigations a “witch hunt” and denouncing journalists reporting on them — similar to the tactics used by his ally Trump.
While the threat of indictment hangs over Netanyahu, he has also built a reputation as guarantor of Israel’s security and economic growth.
He has repeatedly claimed Trump’s recognition of the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights as two of his major accomplishments.
Gantz has sought to overcome that in part by allying with two other former military chiefs of staff and ex-finance minister Yair Lapid.
Netanyahu, Gantz make final pitches before Israeli vote
Netanyahu, Gantz make final pitches before Israeli vote
- The general election — in which Netanyahu is seeking to extend his 13 years in office — is expected to be close, as ex-military chief Benny Gantz poses a serious challenge
- Netanyahu has made last-minute appeals to the right, issuing a deeply controversial pledge to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank
How Gaza’s shattered fishing industry deepened the enclave’s food security crisis
- Once a pillar of local food security, Gaza’s fishing sector has been reduced to a fraction of its prewar capacity
- UN agencies warn the destruction of boats and ports has deepened aid dependence and worsened protein shortages
DUBAI: Gaza’s fishing industry — once a critical source of food, income and affordable protein — has been largely destroyed as a result of Israel’s war with Hamas, worsening the Palestinian enclave’s food security crisis.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, fishing activity in Gaza now stands at less than 10 percent of prewar levels following the widespread destruction of boats, ports and equipment, combined with prolonged maritime closures enforced under Israel’s naval blockade.
UN and human rights organizations estimate that up to 72 percent of Gaza’s fishing fleet has been damaged or destroyed, alongside near-total devastation of related infrastructure, including landing sites, storage facilities and repair workshops.
The remaining vessels are small, damaged skiffs capable of operating only meters from shore.
Ramzy Baroud, a journalist, author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, said the destruction of Gaza’s fishing sector must be understood as part of a deliberate policy aimed at preventing Palestinians from developing independent food-producing systems.
Baroud says Israel had pursued a strategy since 1967 to foster Palestinian dependency — first on the Israeli economy, and later on humanitarian aid entering Gaza through Israeli-controlled crossings — leaving the population permanently vulnerable to economic collapse.
“This vulnerability is functional for Israel, as it allows the Israeli government and military to leverage their control over Palestinian lives through political pressure in pursuit of concessions,” he told Arab News.
Palestinians gather near crates of fish for sale during a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, at the seaport of Gaza City, November 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)
Palestinians were prevented from developing local industry through restrictions on imports and exports, while much of Gaza’s arable land was seized or turned into military targets, he said.
“Likewise, the fishing sector was deliberately crippled through direct attacks on fishermen, including arrests, live fire, confiscation of equipment, and the sinking or destruction of boats,” he added.
FAO has documented widespread destruction across Gaza’s coastal fishing areas.
“In Gaza’s fishing areas now lie broken boats, torn nets, and ruined infrastructure, standing in stark contrast to the once-vibrant industry that supported thousands of fishers for generations,” Beth Bechdol, FAO deputy director-general, said in a statement.
Before the war, more than 4,000 registered fishermen worked along Gaza’s 40-kilometer coastline, supporting tens of thousands of family members and contributing to local food security in an enclave heavily dependent on imports.
Today, the majority have been stripped of their livelihoods, as access to the sea has become sporadic, dangerous, or entirely prohibited.
For decades, fishing off Gaza was restricted to shifting maritime zones — typically between three and 12 nautical miles offshore — often tightened or closed entirely during periods of escalation.
Since October 2023, when the Israel-Hamas conflict began, humanitarian organizations say there have been extended periods of total maritime closure, effectively banning fishing and depriving Gaza’s population of one of its few remaining sources of local food production.
Baroud said the assault on Gaza’s fishing sector was not a by-product of war, but part of a deliberate strategy that intensified during the conflict.
“For Gaza, the sea represents freedom,” he said. “All of Gaza’s other borders are controlled by Israel, either directly or indirectly.”
Israel had consistently worked to deny Palestinians access to the sea, he said. And despite commitments under the Oslo Accords to allow fishing up to 20 nautical miles offshore, those provisions were never honored.
“The assault on Gaza’s fishing sector is therefore not incidental,” Baroud said. “It is about severing Palestinians from one of the few spaces not entirely enclosed by walls, checkpoints, and military control.”
Israel has generally rejected or not accepted accusations that it is unlawfully targeting Gaza’s fishermen, framing incidents at sea as enforcement of security zones or as under investigation rather than deliberate attacks on civilians.
In past lethal incidents at sea highlighted by Human Rights Watch, the Israel Defense Forces have typically said boats “deviated from the designated fishing zone” and that forces fired after warnings were ignored.
According to FAO, rebuilding Gaza’s fishing sector will be impossible without a fundamental change in access and security conditions.
“For Gazans, the sea was not just a source of food, but a source of livelihood and identity,” Bechdol said.
“FAO can assist to help rebuild Gaza’s fishing industry. But for this to happen, peace must first be established and fishers must be allowed to operate their boats and cast their nets without fear of harm.”
Ciro Fiorillo, head of the FAO office for the West Bank and Gaza, said the agency is primed to offer assistance once the security situation improves.
“FAO is ready to restart projects, replenish damaged boats and equipment, and inject emergency funds as soon as these key fishing inputs for production are allowed to enter the Strip, a sustained ceasefire is in place, and access to the sea is restored,” Fiorillo said in a statement.
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the Israeli military assault on Gaza, much of the enclave has been flattened, tens of thousands killed, and some 90 percent of the population displaced.
Even since the ceasefire came into effect with the exchange of hostages and prisoners in October last year, pockets of violence have continued and humanitarian needs remain dire. The collapse of fishing has only compounded an already catastrophic food crisis.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has repeatedly warned that the destruction of food-producing systems — including agriculture, fisheries and markets — has pushed Gaza toward famine, with households facing extreme shortages of protein and calories.
With farmland destroyed, livestock killed and imports severely restricted, fish was once among the few foods that could still be sourced locally.
Its near disappearance has driven prices beyond reach for most families and increased dependence on limited humanitarian aid.
“This is about denying Palestinians access to life itself — to survival,” said Baroud.
The destruction of fishing forces Palestinians into deeper dependence on humanitarian aid that Israel itself controls, effectively weaponizing food rather than allowing Palestinians to sustain themselves independently, he said.
Human rights groups documenting maritime enforcement report that fishermen attempting to operate — even close to the shore — face gunfire, pursuit, detention and arrest, contributing to a climate in which fishing has become a life-threatening activity rather than a livelihood.
According to rights monitors, the destruction of larger vessels has eliminated the possibility of reaching deeper waters, forcing the few remaining fishermen to operate in unsafe, shallow zones with damaged equipment, limited fuel and no protection.
Baroud said international law clearly obligates an occupying power to protect civilian livelihoods and ensure access to food and means of survival.
“The systematic targeting of fishermen — who are civilians engaged in subsistence activity — cannot be justified as a military necessity, especially when it results in starvation and famine,” Baroud said.
He said the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the targeting of livelihoods.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has described the restriction of Gaza’s fishing sector as part of a broader assault on civilian survival systems, warning that the denial of access to the sea has direct implications for nutrition, employment and aid dependency.
Baroud said the recovery of Gaza’s fishing sector could not occur in isolation from the broader economy.
“Only a measure of real freedom for Palestinians — freedom of movement, access to land and sea, and the ability to import, export and produce independently — can allow Gaza’s industries and economy to recover,” he said.
Without ending the system of control governing Palestinian life, Baroud said, any discussion of reconstruction or recovery would remain hollow.
As famine warnings intensify, the fishing sector’s collapse stands as a stark example of how Gaza’s food system has fractured.
What was once a daily livelihood is now reduced to occasional, high-risk attempts to secure food.
With no functioning fleet and no safe access to waters, Gaza’s fishermen are operating at the edge of survival.
