GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The situation along Gaza's beach isn't rosy, contrary to the nighttime scene on the horizon, which since the end of the war sparkles with the lights from fishermen’s boats. The markets are now packed with all kinds of seafood. Everyone thinks, mistakenly, that this is because Gaza fishermen have been allowed to enter new areas after the Aug. 26 cease-fire agreement, which is supposed to allow them to operate within six nautical miles and eventually 12. This is not yet the case, however.

This correspondent boarded a small boat before sunrise Sept. 7 and headed out to sea off the Gaza coast. The speeding craft alternately rose and crashed into the waves with a force that made them seem as if they were made of cement.

The first fishing boat encountered belonged to Mohammad Abu Amra. Three other fishermen were also aboard, all wearing long red waterproof jackets. Abu Amra told Al-Monitor, “We sailed at sunset yesterday, threw out our net and have just pulled it in. There aren’t many fish, unlike the first days after the war.”

As the sun rose, its rays spread across the surface of the sea. The worried and frowning faces of the fishermen remained unchanged. We moved on to another fishing boat, leaving Abu Amra busy with the net in which a few small fish were caught.