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Israel on Thursday halved the area in which Palestinian fishermen are permitted to work, closed the Kerem Shalom goods terminal and imposed restrictions on people wanting to leave the territory after two rockets hit southern Israel, causing damage but no casualties.
The move, which saw the fishing zone cut from six nautical miles to three, was condemned by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem as well as by Gisha, which campaigns for Palestinian freedom of movement.
It said Israel’s duty to protect its citizens “cannot justify the harsh damage to fishermen who have done nothing wrong”.
“B’Tselem calls on the military to rescind its latest decision and the restrictions imposed on fishermen in the Gaza Strip in the past years, and to permit fishing in the 20 nautical miles range, as was set under the Oslo agreements.” awaIn a letter to Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, Gisha director Sari Bashi said it was “the second time in less than a month” Israel had blocked civilian travel and goods transfer in response to rocket fire and urged him to lift the restrictions.
“In the last month, there appears to be a new policy toward the Gaza Strip, in which Israel is openly restricting civilian movement to and from Gaza, not because of a concrete security necessity, but rather as a punitive step taken against the civilian population in direct response to fire by combatants,” she wrote.
The group condemned the rocket fire as “a blatant violation” of international law, but also noted Israel’s obligation to avoid harming civilians, saying the recent steps were “entirely unacceptable”.
As part of the deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged “to work on improving the humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territories in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan brokered by US President Barack Obama on a landmark visit.
The radical Palestinian group Islamic Jihad on Sunday slammed the Israeli apology as “poisonous.” — AFP.
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