Fishermen in Gaza to Face More Challenges After the Reduction of Fishing Zone

Israel reduced the offshore fishing zone in the Gaza Strip Tuesday following rocket fire from the territory, officials said.

Gaza fishermen will now be able to operate no more than six nautical miles into the Mediterranean, down from a limit of up to 15 nautical miles Israel had enforced since April 1.

The Israeli defense ministry unit that oversees civil matters in the Palestinian territories, said the new limit would be in force "until further notice."

A spokeswoman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said the decision was taken in the light of a rocket launch from Gaza late on Monday.

A military spokeswoman said the rocket fell into the Mediterranean, a few kilometers (couple of miles) off the Israeli coast.

An army source said the rocket was fired by Gaza's second largest group, “Islamic Jihad”, an ally of the Hamas movement that controls the coastal enclave.

The source alleged that in recent weeks Jihad had been "taking steps to harm" efforts to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, reported AFP.

But the source underlined that the evidence Jihad had fired the rocket would not affect Israel's longstanding policy of holding Hamas responsible as Gaza's de facto ruler.

"We still consider Hamas responsible for whatever happens in the (Gaza) Strip," the source said.

Israel had extended the fishing limit to 15 nautical miles in some areas from April 1 as part of a package of measures intended to calm a flare-up of violence with Hamas ahead of the April 9 Israeli general election.

The Gaza fishermen's union said the limit was then set at 15 nautical miles in the south near the Egyptian border, at 12 off central Gaza and at six in the north near the Israeli border.

Israel has fought three wars with Gaza factions since 2008 and has blockaded the territory for more than a decade.

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