A decision by the Israeli military to scale down the permitted fishing zone in the besieged Gaza Strip comes as "no surprise" to the enclave's 4,000 fishermen.

"The decision did not come as a surprise. The occupation always backs down from agreements that affect fishermen in the strip," Zakaria Bakr, head of Gaza's fishermen's union, told Al Jazeera.

Citing an alleged rocket attack, the Israeli army said on Tuesday fishing in Gaza would only be permitted up to six nautical miles (11km) until further notice.

The move came after Israel extended the zone to a maximum of 15 nautical miles on April 1 as part of an Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip.

The decision was in response to a rocket fired by the Islamic Jihad group late on Monday, the Israeli army said in a statement on Tuesday, an allegation the Palestinian group denies.

Poster Comment:

They are also stealing their natural gas from offshore.