The Israeli regime claims the damage caused by incendiary kites flown by Palestinian protesters in Gaza is the main reason for shutting down the "Karam Abu Salem" border crossing -- the Gaza Strip’s only commercial crossing through which essential goods are transported into Gaza.
As a further form of collective punishment for Gaza's entire population, the Israeli regime has also decided to reduce Gaza’s designated fishing zone from nine to six nautical miles off the coast.
While the 1993 Oslo Accords set the designated fishing zone in Gaza at 20 nautical miles off the coast, Palestinian fishermen have seen the zone reduced between nine to three nautical miles under the Israeli-imposed blockade.
The blockade, coupled with three devastating wars since 2009, has impacted Palestinians’ livelihoods in Gaza - as high unemployment, barely existent power and water-treatment infrastructure, loss of agricultural lands and war-related trauma led the United Nations to warn in 2015 that Gaza would become “unliveable” by 2020.
