RAMALLAH/AMMAN, 26 October 2007 — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved electricity and fuel cuts against Palestinians living in the impoverished Gaza Strip yesterday in an effort to curb rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
The decision was announced after Barak convened top army brass and defense officials to review a series of sanctions on the Gaza Strip in the wake of Israel’s classification of the Hamas-run territory as a “hostile entity.”
“Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the recommendations from defense officials for periodic cuts in electricity and limitations on fuel supplies, given the continued rocket attacks,” his ministry announced. Officials did not say precisely when the measures would come into effect but no further government approval is necessary before implementing the sanctions.
The Islamist movement Hamas slammed the sanctions as collective punishment. “This is part of the collective punishment meted out by the occupation government against Palestinian residents in Gaza. This is a new crime against the 1.5 million Palestinians who live in Gaza,” spokesman Taher Nunu said.
Human rights organizations, as well as the Palestinians, charge that any such move amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, crammed into the narrow coastal enclave, in breach of international law. The Carter Center, founded by former US President Jimmy Carter, urged Israel to maintain energy supplies to Gaza.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian security official yesterday said that Israel is hindering the Palestinian Authority’s security plans to enforce law by preventing the entry of 500 police officers into West Bank city of Nablus.
During the summer, the Palestinian National Security organization sent selected soldiers from various units for two months of training at a camp near Jericho.
Jordanian King Abdallah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday stressed the need for the Middle East conference to be held in the US city of Annapolis, Maryland, next month to address core issues, foremost Jerusalem, refugees and frontiers, according to a royal court statement.
The remark came during a meeting between the monarch and Abbas who made a stopover in Amman on his way to back to Ramallah after winding up a Southeast Asian tour that took him to Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei to muster support for the Palestinian vision on peace with Israel.
Olmert, who is due to hold a fresh meeting with Abbas in Jerusalem today, has so far evaded handling the final solution issues as sought by the Palestinians and other Arab countries. Rice visited the region last week seeking Arab support for holding the US-proposed Middle East conference as scheduled in November.
