COGAT announced that the fishing zone in the Gaza Strip has been extended from 12 to 15 nautical miles.

:: The fishing zone in the Gaza Strip has been extended from 12 to 15 nautical miles, the Israeli military body responsible for the Palestinian territories announced Tuesday.

“This measure is part of the civilian policy of preventing the deterioration of humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip,” the head of Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Major General Kamil Abu Rukun, said in a statement posted on Twitter.

On May 10, Israel lifted a ban on Palestinian fishing boats in seas off Gaza, an Israeli military body said, ending a measure imposed during a deadly flare-up of violence earlier this month.

The measure is seen as a first step in implementing a fragile truce meant to avert a new conflict between the army and Palestinian militants.

Israel says its blockade is necessary to isolate Gaza’s rulers Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008.

But critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s two million residents.