Israel says it further eases Gaza restrictions despite unrest

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel said Wednesday it will expand Gaza's fishing zone, increase its water supply and allow more Palestinian traders and goods to enter Israel, even though violence has persisted on the border.

"It has been decided to expand the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip to 15 nautical miles, as well as to completely open the Kerem Shalom crossing for the passage of equipment and goods," read a statement from COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"In addition, the water supply to the Gaza Strip will be increased by an additional 5 million cubic metres," or 175 million cubic feet, it said.

COGAT said the number of Gazan merchants with permits to pass through the Erez crossing on a daily basis would be increased from 2,000 to 7,000.

Israel, which withdrew from Gaza in 2005, has maintained a tight blockade on the territory since 2007, the year Hamas took power in the Palestinian enclave.

Speaking to foreign media in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the government's "only goal in Gaza is to maintain peace".

"We are not interested in going back to Gaza. We are not interested in choking Gaza in sieges," Lapid said.

“We just want to make sure nobody is firing rockets and missiles on us and if Hamas will guarantee peace and quiet they can guarantee also a functioning economy and humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.”

In May, Israel and Hamas reached a truce following 11 days of the deadliest fighting in years.

Israel nonetheless began expanding the fishing zone off Gaza in July, with COGAT letting traders and goods from Gaza into the country for the first time in over a year beginning August 15.

Less than a week later, on August 21, clashes accompanying a demonstration on the Gaza border wounded around 40 people, according to Hamas, including a 12-year-old Palestinian boy.

An Israeli sniper was also shot dead during the incident.

The border incident was a return to the marches of 2018, when Gazans began a protest movement demanding an end to Israel’s blockade and the right of Palestinians to return to lands they fled or were expelled from when the Jewish state was founded.

Near-nightly clashes have taken place since.

The Israeli forces said that on Tuesday night, “hundreds of rioters and demonstrators” gathered at the fence where “rioters” threw “explosive devices and burning tyres” and the forces responded with live rounds.

COGAT stressed that the “civilian measures” were “conditional upon the continued preservation of the region’s security stability for the long term”.