Gaza port, illustrative image (Ramez Habboub, Wikimedia)
CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction after Haaretz erroneously reported in Hebrew and English that Israel imposed a fishing ban on the Gaza Strip in response to the barrage of rocket attacks launched by Islamic Jihad against Israel. On page 2 today in Haaretz‘s print edition, and online here, Jack Khoury and Almog Ben Zikri erred:
Tuesday’s events have not immediately damaged the economy, but that could change if the border crossings stay closed and the temporary ban on fishing isn’t lifted.
Representatives of Gaza fishermen were told that there would be no fishing Tuesday, and merchants waiting to export produce through the Kerem Shalom crossing found that the gates were closed.
As reported by multiple media outlets yesterday, Israel scaled back Gaza’s fishing zone to six nautical miles, but has not imposed as ban. COGAT confirmed to CAMERA:
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Kamil Abu Rukun, announced yesterday (Tuesday) the closure of the Erez and Kerem Shalom Crossings, as well as the reduction of the fishing zone off the Gaza Strip to six nautical miles from Tuesday morning and until further notice.
Numerous other news sources reported the fishing zone was reduced to six nautical miles, not that fishing is banned. Moreover, Gisha, an NGO highly critical of Israeli policies regarding the Gaza Strip, likewise reported:
This morning, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced that “following the situation” Israel has closed the crossings between Israel and Gaza to movement in both directions until further notice – Erez Crossing to movement of people and Kerem Shalom to movement of goods – and reduced the “fishing zone” it enforces in the Strip’s territorial waters to a distance of only 6 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast.
In response to CAMERA’s correction request, editors quickly amended the article. The corrected online English article now accurately reports:
Tuesday’s events have not immediately damaged the economy, but that could change if the border crossings stay closed and the temporary reduction in the fishing zone isn’t lifted.
Representatives of Gaza fishermen were told that there would be limited fishing on Tuesday, and merchants waiting to export produce through the Kerem Shalom crossing found that the gates were closed.
In addition, editors commendably appending the following correction alerting readers to the correction: “This article was amended on 13/11/2019 to correct an incorrect reference to a fishing ban.”
