JERUSALEM, 29 October 2007 — Israel began restricting fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip yesterday, ostensibly in retaliation for rocket attacks on its territory, according to European Union and Palestinian sources.
The Jewish state reduced the amount of fuel it provides for Gaza’s main power plant from 360,000 liters a day to 273,000, according to an official from the EU, which is responsible for delivering fuel to the power station.
Israel also reduced the amount of petrol it provides, from 300,000 liters to 213,000 liters, a nearly 30 percent reduction, according to Naharu Al-Hismawy, the director of Gaza’s main fuel distribution center.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave the green light for the punitive measure on Thursday, but earlier yesterday Israeli officials had said they would hold off on fuel cuts until later this week.
Since declaring the Hamas-run territory a “hostile entity” last month Israel has been threatening to enact further restrictions on the already isolated coastal strip, including fuel and electricity cuts.
“This is the first step we have taken following the decision of the government to consider the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity,” government spokeswoman Miri Eisin told AFP about yesterday’s reductions.
“We took this step in particular because mortars have been falling near the area of the power station... This is the first of many other steps we can take,” she said, adding that she objected to the term “sanctions.”
The Israeli military says that since the Hamas movement seized control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June, around 1,000 rockets and mortar rounds have been fired at Israel, wounding dozens of people.
Yesterday, Hamas said that any cuts in the supply of fuel and electricity would constitute a “war crime” against residents of the beleaguered territory, already largely cut off from the outside world.
“These sanctions are collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and without a doubt will lead to a further deterioration of our situation,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since routing security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in June, refuses to recognize Israel and is considered a “terrorist group” by the European Union and the United States.
On Saturday, a defense spokesman said that “juridical problems are still to be resolved” concerning the cuts, referring to possible legal action by Israeli human rights organizations which, like the Palestinians, consider the sanctions collective punishment of civilians in breach of international law.
