Israeli firefighters said they put out the bush fire at three points in a small area in the Eshkol area.

Defense officials say that after burning balloons launched from a Palestinian enclave caused a fire in Israel, Israel has halved the fishing area near Gaza.

“It has been decided to reduce the fishing area in the Gaza Strip from 12 nautical miles to 6 nautical miles,” the Israeli Military Service (COGAT), responsible for civil affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said on Sunday.

It said in a statement: “This decision was made after the continued launch of burning balloons from the Gaza Strip to Israel. This constitutes an infringement of Israeli sovereignty.”

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli firefighters stated that they had extinguished the bush fire “at three points in a small area in the Eshkol area”, noting that the investigation had “confirmed that the cause was a burning balloon.”

On July 12, Israel announced that in view of the “recent security situation calm”, it was expanding the fishing zone near Gaza and allowed increased imports into the Palestinian territories.

The latest launch of the burning balloon is two months later 11-day Israeli attack Gaza, this increases the possibility of another Israeli attack on Hamas-controlled territories.

Before the May conflict, the fishing zone in Gaza was 15 nautical miles.

The May offensive killed at least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children, and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and residential areas. On the Israeli side, 13 people, including two children, were killed in a coastal enclave by rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups.

The Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA) report released earlier this month estimated that the damage caused by the 11-day bombing was between US$290 million and US$380 million, while the recovery needs are estimated to be between US$345 million and US$485 million. between.

Hamas is disturbed that since the end of the fighting, Israel has taken little action to ease the severe blockade of the territory and has delayed in indirect negotiations with Israel to restore Qatar’s financial assistance to Gaza.

The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with 2 million Palestinians — half of whom are under the age of 18 — living in a coastal area of ??365 square kilometers (141 square miles). It has been blocked by Egypt and Israel for 14 years, resulting in a terrible humanitarian situation. A UN report predicts that it will be “uninhabitable” by 2020.

At least 800,000 people have no access to clean water and only a few hours of electricity supply each day. In addition, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the already weak healthcare system, with medical equipment and medicines in short supply.

The new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett likened a balloon launch to a rocket launch and ordered an air strike after the previous launch.

The last time a balloon from Gaza caused a fire in Israel was on July 2.