Israel loosens restrictions on Gaza fishermen

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel loosened restrictions on fishermen off the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday by allowing them to travel up to 24km into the Mediterranean in one area, the largest distance in years.

The decision comes after Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza, said it had been engaged in Egyptian-brokered talks with Israel on easing parts of the blockade in return for calm.

Israel has not commented on the negotiations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely seen as wanting to avoid a severe escalation in the Gaza Strip ahead of April 9 Israeli elections.

“The fishing zone in the Gaza Strip has been expanded to a maximum of 28 kilometres,” said COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees such regulations.

It did not say in which areas the zone would extend to 28km.

The Gaza fishermen’s union said the zone was set at 9km in the north — the area next to Israel — as well as 12 off central Gaza and 15 in the south near the Egyptian border.

The distance is the largest allowed in years by Israel, which has fought three wars with Palestinians in the enclave and has blockaded it for more than a decade.

Miriam Marmur, spokeswoman for Gisha, an NGO that monitors restrictions on Gaza, however noted that it remains short of the 32km agreed to under the Oslo accords of the 1990s.

Gisha also said enforcement of the zone has in the past led Israeli soldiers to fire toward fishermen and to seize vessels for those accused of violating it.

“The enforcement of such a complicated demarcation of various permitted distances is likely to endanger the lives of fishermen and threaten their equipment,” it said.

The distance has fluctuated in recent years from between 4.8km up to 19km in certain areas.

In late February, Israel extended part of the zone to 19km other areas remained at six.

On Sunday, Israel reopened its goods and people crossings with the Gaza Strip after having kept them closed for nearly a week following a rare long-distance rocket strike from the Palestinian enclave. Restrictions had also been placed on the fishing zone.

The rocket fire wounded seven Israelis and led to Israeli retaliatory strikes across the Gaza Strip, another serious flare-up between the two sides.

The reopening of the crossings came after tens of thousands of Palestinians protested along the Gaza border with Israel on Saturday, marking the one-year anniversary since demonstrations and clashes erupted there.

Four Palestinians were killed on Saturday during protests and clashes, but unrest was limited and fears of mass bloodshed were averted after Egyptian-led negotiations.

Gisha, citing UN figures, says the number of fishermen in Gaza has dropped from nearly 10,000 in 2000 to 3,700 now registered. 

Of those, about 2,000 are engaged in fishing on a daily basis, it says.