Israel eases Gaza restrictions on fishermen and farmers

Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen and farmers on Saturday, Palestinian officials said, advancing a three-day-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting.

On Saturday night, a leading Islamic cleric in the Gaza Strip ruled it a sin to violate the cease-fire agreement. The fatwa, or religious edict, issued by Suleiman al-Daya late Saturday accords a religious legitimacy to the truce and could justify any act by Gaza's Hamas government to enforce it.