Source: Compiled by Daily Star, 29-10-2007
"Israel" began cutting vital fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip on Sunday, following through on a promise to step up pressure on the territory`s Hamas rulers after months of Palestinian rocket attacks. Dor Alon, the "Israeli" company that sells fuel to Gaza, confirmed it received instructions from the "Israeli" Defense (War) Ministry to reduce shipments.
Last month the "Israeli" government declared Gaza a "hostile entity" and approved the plan for cutoffs as a response to rocket attacks by Gaza militants. "Israeli" Defense (War) Minister Ehud Barak gave the final go-ahead last week.
"Israel" claims it holds Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in June, responsible for the continued rocket fire. But Hamas has not been able to stop the rockets from being launched.
The fuel cut drew harsh condemnation from Palestinians in Gaza, which relies on "Israel" for all its fuel and more than half its electricity.
"This is a serious warning to the people of the Gaza Strip. Their lives are now in danger," said Ahmad Ali, deputy director of Gaza`s Petroleum Authority, which distributes "Israeli" fuel shipments to private Palestinian companies. "The hospitals, water pumping station and sewage will now be affected by the lack of fuel."
Ali said daily fuel shipments on Sunday were more than 30 percent below normal. He said Gaza keeps about four days of fuel reserves. Ali said he feared that companies would hoard supplies or raise prices.
Fuel from "Israel" also powers Gaza`s only electric plant, which provides a quarter of the territory`s electricity and will now have to ration its reserves. "Israel" has already severely restricted trade with Gaza, shutting down most of the territory`s industry, and conducts frequent airstrikes and small ground operations against militants.
Alaa Araj, an economic adviser to Hamas, called "Israel`s" decision a sign of "hysteria."
"It wants to totally disable the Palestinian society," he said.
"Israeli" government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said "Israel" will "not allow in any way" a humanitarian crisis to develop in Gaza.
Despite its conflict with Hamas, the Occupied West Bank government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the "Israeli" measures.
"We consider it a threat to the peace process and we have initiated contacts with "Israel" to stop it," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki.
The "Israeli" sanctions have drawn criticism from human rights groups and members of the international community, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who said the measures amount to collective punishment.
Matan Vilnai, "Israel`s" deputy defense (war) minister, insisted the cutoff is not a response to the rocket fire. Instead, he said the move was the latest step by "Israel" to "disengage" from Gaza following its withdrawal of all troops and settlers from the area two years ago.
"This is the continuation of our disengagement since the troops pulled out," he told `Israel` Radio Saturday. "This is not connected to Qassams [rockets]."
In other developments, opposition to the upcoming US-sponsored peace conference continued to plague both Palestinian and "Israeli" camps on Sunday.
The Palestinian Authority sent envoys to Damascus to urge Syria not to host a gathering involving Hamas and others opposed to a (so-called) peace conference with "Israel" to be held soon in the United States.
"Hosting this meeting in Damascus would deepen Palestinian divisions and harm Arab efforts to overcome the crisis that led to the separation of Gaza and the West Bank", said Saleh Ra-Fat, one of three envoys despatched by President Mahmoud Abbas.
US officials hope several key Arab states will also attend the meeting, including Syria, which has otherwise chill relations with "Israel" and Washington.
Hamas, which Abbas dismissed from government after the fighting in Gaza, has rejected previous accords with "Israel" and wants to gather support against the November or December Annapolis meeting. Several of its leaders live in exile in Damascus.
Speaking at a weekly Cabinet meeting, Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman also presented a document outlining his vision for "peace" with the Palestinians, including transferring Arab citizens of "Israeli" outside the country.
Lieberman threatened to quit the Cabinet if the core issues at the heart of the Middle East conflict are raised at a peace conference later this year.
"If the conference lists the problems between the two sides, we have no problem with that," he told Army Radio. "But as long as the Palestinians have not met their obligations to fight terror, it is wrong to move to the next stage and hold talks on the core issues," said Lieberman, who is also a deputy prime minister.
Lieberman`s peace proposal remains vague over the borders of the future Palestinian state, but leaves Occupied East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want to make their capital, under full "Israeli" control. It also reiterates Lieberman`s controversial call to transfer densely populated "Israeli" Arab towns to the Palestinian state in order to guarantee a Jewish majority in "Israel".
"We must not accept a reality where a Palestinian state is created without a single Jew and, on the other hand, `Israel` becomes a bi-national state with more than 20 percent of minorities," the document said.
The document, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, also suggested deploying international forces in the Occupied West Bank if the Palestinians prove unable to stop "terror activity" against "Israel".
"Should the Palestinians prove unable to create security forces that can stop the terror activity, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will fill the vacuum," it said.