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.[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.”
