Israel defence minister approves Gaza power cuts
AFP | October 25, 2007
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak approved electricity and fuel cuts against Palestinians living in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Thursday in an effort to curb rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
The decision was likely to overshadow talks on Friday between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that have already been coloured by mutual recriminations in the run-up to a Middle East meeting.
In Ramallah in the West Bank, presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said Abbas would tell Olmert of his "rejection of the Israeli measures to be imposed on the civilian population of Gaza."
Barak took the decision after reviewing a series of sanctions recommended by army top brass and defence officials in the wake of Israel's classification of the already impoverished Gaza Strip as a "hostile entity" last month.
"Defence Minister Ehud Barak approved the recommendations from defence officials for periodic cuts in electricity and limitations on fuel supplies, given the continued rocket attacks," his ministry announced.
Officials did not say when the measures would come into effect, but implementation requires no further government approval.
The hardline Islamist movement Hamas slammed the move. It seized control of the Gaza Strip in a bloody takeover in June, prompting Israel to declare the territory "hostile" in September to pave the way for sanctions.
"This is part of the collective punishment... This is a new crime against the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza," Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu said.
Israel says it wants the new sanctions to raise pressure on Gaza's already impoverished population in a bid to force Palestinian militants to stop rocket attacks against southern Israel.
Gaza is already reeling from a Western freeze on direct aid after Hamas won elections in 2006, and more than 80 percent of its population depends on foreign aid.
Since Hamas captured control of the strip in June and routed its political rivals from Abbas's moderate Fatah party, militants have fired around 1,000 rockets and mortar shells towards Israel.
Although the rockets frequently explode without causing damage or casualties, Israelis in communities near the border live in fear and are furious with the government for not halting the attacks.
Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, one near Beit Hanun in the north and two overnight outside the southern town of Khan Yunis.
Human rights organisations and Palestinians charge that cutting power and fuel supplies would be collective punishment of the civilian population, crammed into the narrow coastal enclave, and in breach of international law.
In Geneva, the top United Nations humanitarian official urged Israel on Thursday to lift its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip.
"I would appeal to Israel to relax these restrictions (and) to lift the economic blockade on Gaza," UN deputy secretary general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes told journalists.
The number of humanitarian convoys entering the territory fell to just 1,500 in September from around 3,000 in July, Holmes said. "In term of famine, we are not there, but there is a serious humanitarian crisis."
Barak's decision came on the eve of talks between Abbas and Olmert aimed at preparing for the meeting scheduled in Annapolis, Maryland. The Israeli premier has already sought to lower expectations ahead of the US talks.
"We don't want to mislead anyone that Annapolis is the event that would conclude peace between us and the Palestinians. We are not there yet," he told Jewish fundraisers on Thursday.
Israel has accused the Palestinians of stalling efforts to reach an agreement ahead of the conference by trying to exceed agreed parameters, and said that talks had not yet broached the actual content of such an accord.
Amid the disagreements, US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met Abbas on Thursday before separate talks with Olmert during a rare visit to the region as Washington ups its efforts to ensure a substantive conference.
Abbas spokesman Abu Rudeina said that during their meeting, the Palestinian president said it was "necessary to come up with a clear document encompassing all questions linked to a final settlement" before Annapolis.
