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| A Palestinian fisherman prepares his net at the seaport of Gaza City March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa |
JERUSALEM:
Two Israeli rights groups demanded on Sunday that Israel lift fishing
restrictions imposed on Gaza after militants fired two rockets across the
border, slamming them as "collective punishment."
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.
"The
decision to once again reduce the fishing range in response to missile fire by
armed groups constitutes collective punishment imposed on fishermen for the
actions of others," said a statement from B'Tselem.
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."
In 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."
Israel on
Friday resumed full diplomatic ties with Turkey after apologising for a deadly
2010 raid on a Gaza aid flotilla which left nine Turkish activists dead.
As part of
the deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged "to work on improving
the humanitarian situation" in the Palestinian territories in a phonecall
with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan brokered by US President
Barack Obama on a landmark visit.
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