GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — For the first time since the blockade on the Gaza Strip began in 2007, Israel is allowing large fishing boats to sail within 15 nautical miles of the Gaza shore Nov. 18. It also permitted the entry of medical equipment to a US field hospital in the north Nov. 19 and reopened the Karm Abu Salem and Erez crossings to Israel on Nov. 17 after several days of closure.
The Israeli steps come after a cease-fire agreement was reached between Israel and Islamic Jihad Nov. 14. A round of fighting between the two parties had erupted Nov. 12 shortly after to the assassination of Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu el-Atta in a targeted strike on his house in the east of Gaza City.
The agreement signed between the two parties, under Egyptian and UN brokerage, included Israel's commitment to the truce understandings reached at the end of October 2018. Meanwhile, the High Commission for the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege announced Nov. 19 that the marches were postponed for the second week in a row to “give Palestinians the chance to stand beside the families of those wounded, killed and harmed by the Israeli aggression.”
In its latest update Nov. 22, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported the death of 35 Palestinians and injury of 111 others during the latest escalation, including three women and seven children.
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