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Israel halts Gaza power cuts
30/10/2007 09:07 - (SA)
Jerusalem - Israel's attorney general said on Monday that planned punitive cuts in electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip can not go ahead before a full assessment of the possible humanitarian consequences.
Menahem Mazouz, who is also the government's legal adviser, said in a statement that "security chiefs must carry out supplementary examinations to take account of the humanitarian obligations before ordering electricity cuts".
A spokesperson for Mazouz's office, Moshe Cohen, told AFP there was a need to "evaluate the risks that such measures could have on the civilian population".
Mazouz published his advice following close consultations with officials from the justice, defence and foreign ministries as well as the prime minister's office and the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has given the government until Friday to justify the economic sanctions it is seeking to impose on the Palestinian territory, following legal action taken by 10 human rights groups.
Israel on Sunday began reducing the amount of fuel it supplies to the beleaguered Hamas-run coastal strip, just weeks after it declared the territory a "hostile entity" in response to frequent but rarely lethal rocket attacks.
It has said it intends to impose electricity cuts within the next few days and earlier on Monday rejected criticism of its decision from the European Union, United Nations, and Russia.
"Israel is continuing to maintain the flow of humanitarian support for the Palestinian people in Gaza - foodstuffs, medicine, and energy. We do not see the Palestinian people as our enemy," Mark Regev, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told AFP.
"What we are trying to do is find ways to protect our people from these daily attacks of deadly rockets against Israel," he added. "Our response is proportional and calculated to protect our civilians."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon called the "punitive measures" against the Gaza Strip "unacceptable" and urged the Jewish state to reconsider its actions.
Russia lodged a similar complaint, with the foreign ministry condemning the "isolation" of the Palestinian territory and insisting the measures would do little to combat extremism.
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