|
Barak approves Gaza sanctions
25/10/2007 16:43 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak approved sanctions against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including electricity and fuel cuts, in response to rocket attacks, his ministry said on Thursday.
"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," it said.
The decision was announced after Barak convened a security assessment with the army's top brass and defence officials. It was not immediately clear when the measures would come into effect.
Israel says they will increase pressure on Gaza's already impoverished population in an effort to force Palestinian militants to stop rocket attacks against southern Israel that the army has struggled to curb.
The cuts will be temporary and, according to Israel, measured in proportion to militant fire, which totalled more than 40 rockets in the past month.
Although the rockets frequently explode causing no damage or casualties, Israelis in communities near the border with the Gaza Strip live in fear from the fire and are furious with the government for not halting the attacks.
"We are left with no choice but to take these steps. I assume they will have an effect, even if not immediately," said Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai before Barak's decision was announced.
"We are looking at a gradual disengagement from Gaza in terms of electricity supplies so they can supply electricity for themselves," he told army radio.
But the Palestinians and international human rights organisations charge that any such move amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population, crammed into the narrow coastal enclave, in breach of international law.
In a surprise development, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said in Amman on Thursday that meetings have been taking place between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza.
"We have information that some Hamas men are meeting with the Israelis at Erez (on the Israel-Gaza border). This information is almost confirmed," he said after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II.
The Carter Centre, a human rights group founded by former US president Jimmy Carter, meanwhile, urged Israel to maintain energy supplies to Gaza.
"The Carter Centre sees this proposal as the collective punishment of 1.4 million people for the actions of a few," it said before the Israeli defence minister's decision was announced.
Last month Israel declared Gaza a "hostile entity" after Hamas's bloody takeover of the territory in June, paving the way for sanctions against the territory such as cutting vital water and fuel supplies.
Already reeling from a Western freeze on direct aid after Hamas won elections in 2006, Gaza has been further isolated from the outside world since the takeover as Israel restricts all but vital humanitarian supplies.
- AFP
|
News
