Israel halves Gaza fishing zone after incendiary balloon throws

Published on : 07/25/2021 – 10:46 PM

Israel on Sunday (July 25) halved the authorized fishing zone off the Gaza Strip, defense officials said, after the launching of incendiary balloons from the Palestinian enclave caused bushfires in the Gaza Strip. southern Israel.

“It has been decided to reduce the authorized fishing zone in the Gaza Strip from 12 nautical miles to 6 nautical miles,” said the military branch of the Office for the Coordination of Israeli Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (Cogat). “The decision was taken because of the launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, which constitutes a violation of Israeli sovereignty,” the Cogat statement said.

He warned that “Hamas, responsible for activities in the Gaza Strip and for all actions carried out from the Gaza Strip to the State of Israel, must suffer the consequences of the violence committed against the citizens of the State of Israel. ‘Israel”.

An area previously enlarged after a “recent” return to “calm”

Earlier on Sunday, bushfires were extinguished “in three places in a small area in the Eshkol region,” a statement from Israeli firefighters said, adding that “an expert concluded that the fires were caused by incendiary balloons “.

These balloons are aimed at agricultural land around the impoverished Palestinian enclave where some two million inhabitants have been crowded together under Israeli blockade for 15 years.

The fishing zone and the imports are used by Israel to punish or reward the Gaza Strip for the security situation.

Israel had thus announced, on July 12, the extension of the fishing zone and the expansion of authorized imports into the Gaza Strip, after a “recent” return to “calm”.

The authorized fishing zone before the conflict started in May was 15 nautical miles, but Israel reduced it during hostilities.

Sporadic incidents – the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes in retaliation – have taken place since the inception of a fragile ceasefire that ended the 11-day blitz (10-21) may).

Israel recently responded to the throws of these balloons with nightly airstrikes targeting suspected positions of the Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

The last time these balloon launches from the Palestinian enclave caused a fire in Israel was on July 2.

With AFP