Cutting Energy Supplies to Gazza: An Israeli Oil Weapon against an Arab Nation
Walid Khadduri Al-Hayat - 27/04/08//
The non-governmental organization concerned with human rights, Human Rights Watch, has issued a detailed report on the Israeli policy that aims at destroying the only power plant in the Gaza Strip and cutting fuel supplies to the civilians there whose population is estimated at 1.3 million.
Israel's use of the oil weapon against Arab residents is not new. It started with the Lebanon wars when it bombed power stations and blocked the import of fuel during the summer 2006 war even when oil tankers ready to provide Lebanon with fuel were docked in nearby Middle Eastern ports. Cutting off power and fuel these days does not affect the military establishment alone, but it also laves significant negative effects on the unarmed civilians, especially the sick given the insufficient fuel supplies for ambulances, not to mention the foods and baby milk that go to waste. In international law, such punitive measures are related to as collective punishment. In this context, the destruction of Iraqi power plants by American warplanes in the 1990s should not be forgotten.
Israel's objective behind cutting off power and fuel supplies to Gazans is very evident. Israel is exerting pressure on Hamas by inflicting collective punishment on civilian residents. Human Rights Watch' report which was published both in occupied Jerusalem and New York at the same time indicated that "The restrictions on electricity and fuel to an effectively occupied territory amount to collective punishment of the civilian population, a serious violation of international humanitarian law. Unlawful attacks by one side to a conflict do not justify unlawful actions by the other".
I have no wish here to mention the repeated violations of international laws related to human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories or to the different collective punishment applications inflicted by Israeli authorities against Palestinian residents. After decades of experience, it has become evident that there are international parties who turn their backs to these laws when the matter comes to the Palestinians living under occupation, and that these apply double standards whenever the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is involved. All this has led us to the conclusion that these laws have been enacted for non-Arab nations.
According to the report, Israel's collective punishment measures amount to the following procedures: First, the bombing of the Gaza power plant in June 2006; gasoline, diesel and other fuel supplies to Gaza were reduced in October 2007; and following the April 9th bombing of the fuel tank reservoir in Nahal Oz, the only border crossing through which fuel supplies pass to Gaza, measures were taken to block supplies and to reduce them more severely than ever.
Since then, Israel has cut off all gasoline and diesel supplies to Gaza. Israel, however, decided to allow the passage limited supplies of cooking fuel on April 16th. Last week, moreover, it permitted fuel supplies that could last Gaza's power plant for three days only after the plant ran out of reserves.
The UNRWA agency threatened to stop aid to almost one million Palestinians in Gaza Strip as of April 24th unless it received the necessary fuel supplies. On April 23rd, Special UN Coordinator for the Middle East Process, Robert Serry, held a press conference in which he warned against the deteriorating humanitarian condition in Gaza. In this respect, he said that UNRWA's diesel supplies will be exhausted on 24 April, which would stop food distribution to civilian residents, and neither UNRWA nor the World Food Program will be able to provide any food aide unless UNRWA is supplied with the necessary fuel.
*Dr. Khadduri is an expert in energy matters.
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