Israel reduced the offshore fishing limit it imposes for vessels operating out of Gaza from Tuesday following rocket fire from the territory by Palestinian militants, officials said. A number of fishing boats came under Israeli naval fire early Tuesday, the fishermen's union said, after the military said they breached the fishing boundaries.
The union statement did not report any casualties. Gaza fishermen will now be able to operate no more than six nautical miles into the Mediterranean, down from up to 15 nautical miles Israel had allowed since April 1. COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees civil matters in the Palestinian territories, said the new limit would be in force "until further notice."
A COGAT spokeswoman said the decision was taken in light of a rocket launch from Gaza late on Monday. A military spokeswoman said the rocket fell into the Mediterranean, a few kilometres (couple of miles) off the Israeli coast. An army source told AFP that the rocket was fired by Gaza's second largest militant group, Islamic Jihad, an ally of the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas.
The source alleged that in recent weeks Islamic Jihad had been "taking steps to harm" efforts to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But the source underlined that the evidence Islamic 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. Zakaria Bakr, an official on the fishing union in Gaza, confirmed the reduction and accused Israel of attacking several boats in recent days, including Tuesday morning.
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