Israel on Sunday reduced Gaza’s permitted fishing zone by half after incendiary balloons were launched from the Palestinian enclave, sparking several fires over the course in the Jewish state, defense officials said. 

The Israeli military branch responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories (COGAT) said that they have decided to reduce the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip from 12 nautical miles to 6 nautical miles. The decision was made following the continued launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip towards Israel as it constitutes a violation of Israeli sovereignty, the Defense Ministry body said. 

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Earlier Sunday, Israeli firefighters said that they extinguished brush blazes in three points in a small area in the Eshkol region, noting that investigations had determined the cause as being incendiary balloons. The balloons are basic devices intended to set fire to farmland surrounding the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Israel announced on July 12 that it was expanding the fishing zone off Gaza and allowing additional imports into the Palestinian territory in the light of the “recent security calm”. 

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In May, the eleven-day conflict Between Isreal and Palestine saw hundreds of airstrikes on Gaza by Israel, and Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israel. Prior to the conflict, the Gaza fishing zone was 15 nautical miles. 

Since the ceasefire ended the conflict, there has been sporadic unrest, with incendiary balloons launched from Gaza and Israeli reprisal airstrikes targeting facilities belonging to Gaza’s Hamas Islamist rulers. However, no casualties have been reported. The last time balloons from Gaza caused a fire in Israel was July 2.