GAZA CITY, 21 January 2008 — Gaza reeled from power shortages yesterday as Israel tightened a blockade around the impoverished Palestinian territory, despite warnings that the closure could spark a humanitarian crisis.
The Gaza Strip remained shut for a third consecutive day as Israel decided to maintain the closure of all crossing points leading into and out of Gaza City.
“The Israeli ministers discussed the ongoing closure during the Cabinet meeting, but decided to keep up the pressure,” a senior government official told news agencies.
Amid mounting fuel shortages, Gaza’s sole power plant shut down one of its two remaining working turbines early yesterday.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that a shutdown of the station, which provides a third of the territory’s power including to its main population center of Gaza City, would have “a devastating impact.”
“Depriving people of such basics as water is tantamount to depriving them of human dignity,” said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness. “It is difficult to understand the logic of making hundreds of thousands of people suffer quite needlessly.”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the new measures amounted to a “death sentence” for the territory and called for international intervention.
“Closing the crossings into the Gaza Strip and stopping fuel shipments, alongside the continuation of the criminal killings represents a death sentence and a slow death for the Palestinian people,” he said. “We consider this to be a violation of international law.”
— Additional inputs from agencies
