JERUSALEM — Declaring the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip a “hostile territory,” Israel said Wednesday that it would reduce its supply of fuel and electric power to the area in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.
The measures were announced as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to prepare for a planned regional conference in November.
The Israeli security Cabinet set no date for the steps in Gaza but said they would be carried out “following a legal examination, taking into account the humanitarian aspects prevailing in the Gaza Strip and with the intent of avoiding a humanitarian crisis.”
Human-rights advocates called the announced cutbacks collective punishment, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon warned that any cutoff of vital services to Gaza would violate international law.
A statement from the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned “this oppressive decision [that] will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increasing their suffering and deepening their tragedy.”
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum called it a “declaration of war.”
The Israeli government has come under mounting pressure to respond to attacks from the Gaza Strip after a rocket landed earlier this month near a day-care center and another rocket slammed last week into an army base, wounding some 40 soldiers.
Repeated military strikes have failed to quell the rocket fire, and some Israeli officials have suggested cutting fuel and power supplies as a means of pressing the Hamas government in Gaza to halt the attacks.
The security Cabinet decided that “additional sanctions will be placed on the Hamas regime in a way that will limit the passage of goods to the Gaza Strip, reduce the supply of fuel and electricity and restrict the movement of people to and from the strip,” a statement said.
Movement in and out of Gaza has already been heavily restricted by Israel since Hamas violently seized control of the territory in June. Food and medical supplies have been allowed in, but imports of raw materials and exports have been halted, devastating local businesses.
A cutback of fuel and power would further cripple the impoverished area, potentially affecting hospitals, emergency services and the water supply. Most of Gaza’s electricity is supplied by Israel, with the rest coming from a local power plant and Egypt. The Gaza Strip and its power station are entirely dependent on Israeli fuel supplies.
After meeting Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Rice said at a news conference that Hamas “is indeed a hostile entity, and it is a hostile entity to the United States as well.” But she said: “We will not abandon the innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and indeed will make every effort to deal with their humanitarian needs.”
Livni said that the Israeli step complied with international law. “Even though when it comes to the humanitarian needs we have our own responsibility,” she said, “all the needs which are more than the humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to the Gaza Strip.”
Gisha, an Israeli human-rights group that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement, said the measures adopted Wednesday are “immoral and illegal.”
“Cutting back power and fuel is collective punishment of an entire population,” said Noam Peleg, a lawyer at Gisha. “Even in a state of war, international law prohibits deliberate harm to civilians, and Israel must distinguish between action against terrorists and innocent men, women and children.”
jogreenberg@tribune.com
