|
Gaza Strip is on the Verge of Humanitarian Catastrophe:
Israeli Occupation
Authorities Continue to Impose Collective Punishment Measures and
Reduction of Fuel Supplies
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
Ref: 27/2008
Date: 10 April 2008
Time: 13:00 GMT
PCHR calls upon
the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties
to the Fourth Geneva Convention, United Nations agencies and all
international humanitarian organizations, to immediately intervene to
prevent an imminent humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip due to the
decrease in the fuel supplies.
For the 6th
consecutive week, Israeli occupation authorizes have continued to
decrease fuel supplies allowed into the Gaza Strip in the context of
collective punishment measures imposed against the Palestinian civilian
population. On 25 October 2007, Israeli occupation authorities decided a
decrease in the supplies of fuels and electricity allowed into the Gaza
Strip, and the Israeli High Court of Justice approved the decision in
spite of a petition against it submitted by PCHR and other Palestinian
and Israeli human rights organizations.[1]
On 28 November 2007, Israeli occupation authorities decided another
reduction in the amounts of fuels allowed into the Gaza Strip.[2]
According to PCHR’s documentation, the supplies of fuels allowed into
the Gaza Strip have been reduced to unprecedented levels that can never
meet basic needs of the population. Since the beginning of March 2008,
the amounts of fuels allowed into the Gaza Strip daily have been:
· Supplies of
benzene have been reduced to 11,172 liters daily, which constitute only
9.31% of the actual needs of the Gaza Strip. Before the decision to
reduce the supplies of fuels into the Gaza Strip in October 2007,
Israeli occupation authorities had allowed the entry of 120,000 liters
of benzene into the Gaza Strip daily.
· Supplies of
diesel have been reduced to 106,195 liters daily, which constitute only
30.34% of the actual needs of the Gaza Strip. Before the decision to
reduce the supplies of fuels into the Gaza Strip in October 2007,
Israeli occupation authorities had allowed the entry of 350,000 liters
of benzene into the Gaza Strip daily.
· Supplies of
the domestic gas have been reduced to 211,800 tons daily, which
constitutes only 39.48% of the actual daily needs of the Gaza Strip
(350,000 tons).
In response, the
Association of Owners of Petrol and Gas Companies and Fuel Stations has
refused to receive the amounts of fuels delivered to the Gaza Strip
since Monday, 7 April 2008, due to continued reduction of fuels supplies
allowed into the Gaza Strip. The board of the association established a
committee to deal with the emerging conditions that have affected all
aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, especially the operation of hospitals
and medical centers, wells, sewage systems, fishing boats, bird farms,
and transportation throughout the Gaza Strip. All fuel stations
throughout the Gaza Strip, whose number is 145, have been closed due to
the lack of fuel supplies.
According to
PCHR’s observations, transportation throughout the Gaza Strip has been
partially stopped since Monday morning, 7 April 2008 due to the lack of
fuels, which have disrupted daily activities of the Palestinian civilian
population. Private cars that are operated by benzene have been stopped
as fuel stations have run out of benzene, and taxi drivers have been
forced to sharply decrease their working hours due to the limited
amounts of diesel they have been able to obtain. Consequently,
transportation costs have sharply decreased. At least 20% of employees
and workers have not been able to reach their work places on time, and
at 15-20% of students and teachers have reached their schools late.
According to
sources of Costal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU), since the
beginning of this year, the monthly amounts of fuels it receives
according to a contract with Bahloul Fuel Company have been decreased
from 150,000 to 45,000 litters, and the crisis is deepening as Israeli
occupation forces have continued to decrease fuel applies allowed into
the Gaza Strip. Engineer Munther Shublaq, Director of CMWU, stated that
all attempts to secure a quota of fuels have failed as Israeli
occupation forces have continued to reduce fuel supplies allowed into
the Gaza Strip. Municipalities in the central Gaza Strip basically
depend on fuels to operate wells, according to Shublaq, and they receive
fuel supplies weekly. If they do not receive fuel supplies for more than
one week, they will not be able to operate major wells and will be
forced to operate smaller wells, which provide less amounts of water
with less quality to large areas. Major wells are located in al-Mughraqa
village, which is known of having underground water with good quality,
and provide drinking water to al-Boreij, al-Maghazi and al-Nusairat
refugee camps. Similar wells are also located in Wadi al-Salqa village
and al-Mawasu area. These wells are operated for 8 hours daily, and
people usually receive water for 3 hours daily. The amounts of water
provided to people in these areas will be progressively decreased due to
the reduction in fuel supplies. The same consequences are threatening
wells in Gaza City, especially those in Sheik Radwan neighborhood which
serve at least 140,000 people.
The Gaza Strip
still faces other dangers due to the decreased amounts of fuels
necessary to operate sewage systems and their treatment plants. The CMWU
has been forced to pump 40,000-50,000 cubic meters of untreated sewage
water into the sea, as plants have not been capable to treat them, which
endangers the environment. There are serious concerns that sewage water
may overflow into populated areas like what happened in al-Zaytoun
neighborhood in Gaza City in January 2008, or the environmental
catastrophe that struck Um al-Nasser village in the northern Gaza Strip
in March 2007, which took the lives of 5 people. There is an urgent need
to stop pumping sewage water into the sea, as summer is very close and
people go to beach.
Moreover, Israeli
occupation authorities have denied the entry of equipments necessary to
operate wells and sewage treatment plants although a number of
international parties have intervened. On 11 March 2008, a meeting was
held among the CMWU, the Palestinian Water Authority, the World Bank and
the Quartet, which ended with Israeli promises to allow such equipments
into the Gaza Strip in a week, but such promises went in vain.
PCHR is monitoring
with utmost concern the deterioration in economic and social conditions
due to the total siege imposed by Israeli occupation authorities on the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially the Gaza Strip, and:
1) Calls upon the
international community to immediately intervene to ensure Israel’s
compliance to international law, and to prevent possible additional
collective punishment measures which would impact the Palestinian
civilian population;
2) Calls upon the
High Contracting Parties to force Israel, the occupying power, ensure
immediately flow of the supplies of fuels, foods, medicines and other
goods into the Gaza Strip in accordance with international humanitarian
law and human rights law; and
3) PCHR reminds
the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, including
Israel, of their obligations under the Convention and other
international human rights instruments, particularly obligation under
common article 1 of the Geneva Conventions to respect and respect and
ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstance; and heir
obligation under article 54 of Protocol, under which “starvation of
civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.”
[1]
For more details, see PCHR’s press release on 25 October 2007.
[2]
For more details, see PCHR’s press release on 29 November 2007.
http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/PressR/English/2008/31-2008.html
|
