TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) Israel has reduced the Gaza Strip's permitted fishing zone from 15 nautical miles to eight citing an increase in booby-trapped balloons sent from Gaza waters towards Israel, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement.
The decision was made by Defense Minister Benny Gantz on recommendations of COGAT, a military liaison agency that oversees security matters in the Palestinian territories.
"The decision was made in light of ongoing and returning terrorist activities from the Gaza Strip against Israeli citizens in recent days, which represent a violation of Israeli sovereignty," COGAT said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, Israeli police said that an explosive device transported remotely in balloons was defused without any injuries.
COGAT held the ruling Islamist party Hamas responsible for the explosives, saying that the group will "bear the consequences of the violence being directed toward Israeli citizens."
Gaza Strip has been under virtual blockade since radical armed group Hamas seized power over the territory in the so-called Palestinian civil war in 2007.
