Israeli and Palestinian organizations petition High Court to resume fuel supply to Gaza

[Tom Joad]

On Thursday, 17 January 2008, the defense minister announced an increase in sanctions against the Gaza Strip, following massive firing of Qassam rockets on Israeli communities. This announcement contradicts the state’s recent statement to the High Court on 10 January, that the quota on industrial diesel fuel allowed to enter the Gaza Strip would be returned to the level prior to the sanctions. Following the announcement, Israeli and Palestinian organizations this morning petitioned the High Court to issue an interim order requiring Israel to allow renewal of the supply. This request was filed as part of a petition against the sanctions on the Gaza Strip, from October 2007.

According to Dr. Rafiq Maliha of the Palestinian Electric Company, the company has had to totally shut down the power station due to lack of fuel. As a result, the power supply in the Gaza Strip has been cut by 43 percent, causing a blackout in wide parts of the area.

The power station supplies electricity to institutions that provide vital services to the residents, such as Shifa Hospital (the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip), the sewage treatment facility in Gaza City, and dozens of wells, sewage pumps, medical clinics, and schools. The hospitals have generators, but they are unable to produce the requisite amount of electricity, and the interruption in power supply causes a variety of malfunctions, inevitably harming the patients. The residents also suffer severe cutbacks in water supply. In Gaza City, for example, the residents do not have running water eight hours a day.
http://www.btselem.org/english/Gaza_Strip/20080121_Increase_of_sanction_on_Gaza.asp

comment:
The Israeli government has led a campaign of lies in an attempt to downplay the suffering that is being endured by the people of Gaza by the Israeli-imposed blockade. It is the human rights organizations on one side, the Israeli regime of Olmert (supported by Bush) on the other.

What side are you on?

[oberliner]

1. Barak authorizes isolated shipment of diesel fuel to Gaza

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3497054,00.html

Barak also authorized the entry of humanitarian aid to the Strip, including medicines.