Ref: 27/2008
Date: 10 April 2008
Time: 13:00 GMT
Gaza Strip is on the Verge of
Humanitarian Catastrophe:
Israeli Occupation Authorities
Continue to Impose Collective Punishment Measures and Reduction of Fuel Supplies
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.
On 28 November 2007, Israeli occupation authorities decided another reduction in
the amounts of fuels allowed into the Gaza Strip.
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.”
