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Last update - 07:32 26/10/2007
PA seeks int'l intervention as Gaza power cuts imminent
By Amos Harel, Barak Ravid, and Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondents and Agencies
Tags: Gaza Strip, Qassam rocket 

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appealed for international intervention Thursday to prevent Israel from cutting electricity and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip in response to Qassam rocket fire.

Israel will begin cutting the power in the coming days, after Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave final approval to the defense establishment plan on Thursday.

Barak's decision to approve the plan prepared by his deputy, Matan Vilnai, is conditional on legal approval from Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and from the Military Advocate General.
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The first sanctions will be implemented in the coming days, with electricity supply being disrupted during the evening hours for periods between 15 minutes to an hour each time.

Another form of sanctions that will be utilized is significantly cutting the volume of fuel, particularly gasoline, allowed into the Gaza Strip.

However, the delivery of diesel will not be disrupted, in great part because of its widespread use in hospitals and public transportation.

The decision on utilizing economic sanctions as punishment for continued rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip had originally been approved by the cabinet, on the condition that it would be legally sanctioned. Of particular concern was the issue of proportionality, and on this basis, certain parameters were developed on the kind of sanctions that could be imposed on civilians, without violating basic humanitarian needs.

Defense sources said that the sanctions would be carried out on a weekly basis and will not be directly or immediately linked to the number or frequency of rocket attacks.

Erekat called Israel's decision particularly provocative given that Palestinians and Israelis are meeting to negotiate an agreement on the core issues for ending the conflict between them.

Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel had no choice but to take punitive measures. "Should we tell them to continue firing rockets at the same power station that provides them with electricity and continue to bomb the water system that provides them with water?" he asked on Israel Radio.

In response, the Israeli human rights group Gisha issued a statement warning that, "Playing with electricity is playing with fire," adding, "Even a brief interruption in electricity threatens the safety and well-being of Gaza residents."

One of Israel's main electricity stations is outside Ashkelon, just 6 miles from Gaza. Several rockets have exploded nearby, as Palestinian militants consider the power station to be a prime target.

Also Thursday, Palestinian militants fired 10 Qassam rockets at the western Negev. Two of the rockets were found to have struck open fields in the southern town of Sderot, causing no injuries or damage.

Thursday afternoon, four mortar shells struck near the Sufa checkpoint on southern Gaza's border with Israel. There were no injuries.

The security establishment decided a few days ago to cut electricity to the Beit Hanun area in the northern Strip in response to rocket fire, in keeping with a September cabinet decision to designate Gaza as "hostile territory."

On Tuesday, in an urgent meeting held following 8 Qassam and 12 mortar attacks on Israel, senior defense officials decided to recommend to Barak and the cabinet the imposition of further sanctions on the Gaza Strip.

During the meeting, called by Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, it was decided to recommend additional limitations on the delivery of various types of fuel, services and merchandise.

"Because this is an entity that is hostile to us there is no reason for us to supply them with electricity beyond the minimum required to prevent a crisis," Vilnai told Army Radio.

According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Gaza's population uses about 200 megawatts of electricity, of which 120 are provided directly from Israeli power lines, 17 are delivered from Egypt, and 65 are produced at a local Palestinian plant.

Data was presented at the meeting stating that Israel has five electric lines going into the Gaza Strip. Four deliver power to an army base in the area of the Strip or to neighborhoods in Gaza City with hospitals, and therefore they cannot be shut down. The fifth line transmits power from Israel to Beit Hanun, the source of extensive rocket fire.

The defense establishment and the Israel Electric Corporation are working on possible joint steps involving power. The defense establishment is reportedly opposed to the idea of cutting the water supply to the Strip.


Related articles:
  • IDF formulates plan to limit services to civilians in Gaza
  • Cabinet declares Gaza 'hostile territory'
  • Olmert: We won't allow Gaza to slide into a humanitarian crisis
  • Gaza Strip to remain without full electrical power for a year
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      1.   Arrogance of power 17:12  |  Omar 25/10/07
      2.   Nonsense, Omar 17:26  |  Jason, Ph.D. 25/10/07
      3.   Finally 17:28  |  B 25/10/07
      4.   "Righteous among the Nations"? 17:34  |  JW 25/10/07
      5.   Within days? 17:34  |  KUTW 25/10/07
      6.   pals GEHTTO 17:34  |  WHY 25/10/07
      7.   to omar 17:35  |  Jay 25/10/07
      8.   to omar 2 17:41  |  JAy 25/10/07
      9.   THE BALL IS ON THEIR COURT 17:43  |  Nephtaly 25/10/07
      10.   Hamas has had more than enough notice 17:43  |  Murray of Montreal 25/10/07
      11.   #1 Talks of Arrogance!??? 17:55  |  B`Galil 25/10/07
      12.   For every kassam fired, confiscate one square kilometer of gaza 17:57  |  ahmed the righteous 25/10/07
      13.   The Rigth move 17:58  |  danite 25/10/07
      14.   7.Jay,Omar & the zionists,Jay Gandhi once asked Martin Buber why 18:00  |  lakshmi 25/10/07
      15.   This is not going to work... 18:00  |  Tzfonit 25/10/07
      16.   The time is near. 18:07  |  Johan Cohan Mohan 25/10/07
      17.   Omar of Ramallah 18:07  |  Lynn 25/10/07
      18.   jw and abomination 18:07  |  scallywag 25/10/07
      19.   why is why... 18:12  |  scallywag 25/10/07
      20.   omar - see it positive 18:14  |  scallywag 25/10/07
      21.   Omar, O, contrare! the arrogance of terror! 18:15  |  akiva (zionist) 25/10/07
      22.   Procrastinators! Why in the coming days? why not immediately? 18:19  |  Winston C. 25/10/07
      23.   Jason # 2 18:24  |  American in NY 25/10/07
      24.   Omar 18:25  |  Edifice 25/10/07
      25.   JEWISH JUSTICE: COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT 18:26  |  JACKAL 25/10/07
      26.   Here`s an idea... 18:28  |  Mervin 25/10/07
      27.   # 13 Danite, good to see you "moderating"...... 18:29  |  Swiss (Dino) 25/10/07
      28.   #1 Omar 18:33  |  Deborah 25/10/07
      29.   @#4 JW 18:33  |  akiva (zionist) 25/10/07
      30.   #2. Jason, Ph.D. 18:39  |  Deborah 25/10/07
      31.   Tzfonit, here is why 18:40  |  Winston C. 25/10/07
      32.   Hamas Already Complaining 18:40  |  Ron 25/10/07
      33.   This should have been done two years ago, now it is meaningless 18:41  |  Genuine Tosefta 25/10/07
      34.   Tzfonit please tell us how practically achieve what you suggest 18:44  |  Genuine Tosefta 25/10/07
      35.   What happened.. 18:45  |  JJohnson 25/10/07
      36.   JACKAL would you characterize Arab Kassams on Sderot the same way 18:46  |  Genuine Tosefta 25/10/07
      37.   Just do it 18:46  |  Yonatan 25/10/07
      38.   #11. B`Galil 18:48  |  Deborah 25/10/07
      39.   Another one of Barak`s idiotic gestures it will amount to nothing 18:50  |  Genuine Tosefta 25/10/07
      40.   #21 Akiva 18:53  |  Deborah 25/10/07
      41.   Israel accepts handouts while denying basic rights 18:54  |  Tim 25/10/07
      42.   #25: answer is simple 18:54  |  Paul Freedman 25/10/07
      43.   315 Tzfonit - Au contraire, Madame 18:55  |  Yonatan 25/10/07
      44.   Omar Just Start Behaving Like Human Beings and maybe 18:58  |  Motty Marksy 25/10/07
      45.   Jay in a foreign land and Lynn too 19:02  |  Omar 25/10/07
      46.   to JACKAL 19:02  |  Sol 25/10/07
      47.   #23 "American" in NY 19:03  |  Yonatan 25/10/07
      48.   #6: siege not ghetto, nor was Warsaw 19:04  |  Paul Freedman 25/10/07
      49.   blind mans bluff 19:06  |  matilda 25/10/07
      50.   #28 Deborah`s "greed and arroghance" 19:07  |  Yonatan 25/10/07
      51.   God`s Land 19:08  |  Jim 25/10/07
      52.   Edifice 19:09  |  Omar 25/10/07
      53.   Too little, and wouldn`t work 19:11  |  Tosefta 25/10/07
      54.   Deborah , #30 19:11  |  Jason, Ph.D. 25/10/07
      55.   Justice 19:15  |  CML 25/10/07
      56.   Punishment or revenge 19:16  |  Baz Mann 25/10/07
      57.   The Hamas dilemma: Power or Glory 19:16  |  Tosefta 25/10/07
      58.   Its an unfortunate retaliation to Pal savagry 19:20  |  Richard S 25/10/07
      59.   DINO - NO KASSAMS = ELECTRICITY 19:22  |  17 25/10/07
      60.   Deborah 19:23  |  jeff 25/10/07
      61.   Remember the greenhouses that Israelis left in 19:23  |  KLOMP 25/10/07
      62.   Cutting Power, Fuel to Gaza Unfair! 19:27  |  MichaelF 25/10/07
      63.   the power is theirs to change their behavior 19:30  |  matt 25/10/07
      64.   Disproportionate Response To A Minimal Threat 19:30  |  chet 25/10/07
      65.   Yonatan #43 I wish you were right 19:31  |  Tzfonit 25/10/07
      66.   Israel should have taken this step a long time 19:33  |  Petra 25/10/07
      67.   Finally 19:35  |  JordanisPalestine 25/10/07
      68.   Right strategy 19:38  |  Brod 25/10/07
      69.   Jason, the supposed PhD 19:39  |  Omar 25/10/07
      70.   answer to Deborah 19:46  |  CML