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Gaza Relit as Israel Eases Fuel Blockade
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by Rob Walker | January 22, 2008 at 11:42 am
823 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments
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Isreal allowed only 13 trucks through, but workers hoped to have the Gaza Strip's main power plant online in around four hours. Gaza city has been cut off from the outside world for four days.
Previous NowPublic coverage here.
Israel resumed fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip's main power plant on Tuesday, offering limited respite from a blockade that had plunged much of the Hamas-ruled territory into darkness and touched off international protests.Only 13 truckloads of food and medicine entered Gaza on Tuesday, short of the 50 Israel had agreed to, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said the rest would cross in the coming days.
At the United Nations in New York, Israeli and Palestinian envoys traded accusations of blame in the Security Council for the recent wave of violence in Gaza, which threatens to torpedo a fragile Middle East peace process.
The
Israelis have said they will allow power plant fuel and medicines into
the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, easing a blockade imposed after rocket
attacks.Defence Minister Ehud Barak agreed to ease the curbs for one day,
hours after the territory's sole power plant shut down, plunging Gaza
City into darkness.But he later warned that Gaza remained a stronghold of "terrorists".
The UN has warned food aid to about 860,000 Gaza people could be halted within days because of the blockade.
The EU says Israel is "collectively punishing" the Hamas-run territory.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (2)
at 13:24 on January 22nd, 2008
Hello Rob,
Sadly, it just never lets up in the Middle East. I've added two images for you:
Former Prime Minister, now Defense Minister: Ehud Barak
Source: Haaretz.com
Map of Israel, showing the Gaza Strip
Source: U.S. Dept., of State
at 08:34 on January 23rd, 2008
"Picture this: the electric plant which supplies 70% of electricity to the Palestinians in Gaza is in Ashkelon. The Palestinians in Gaza have been shooting kassam rockets at the plant ever since the "disengagement" i.e. the abandonment of Gush Katif. Now, Palestinians are crying that they don't have enough electricity. They are complaining about Israeli sanctions against them. They are going to the U.N.
The truth is, Israel has not stopped supplying electricity to Gaza. Not only that, but Israeli electric company employees are risking their lives to do so.
Mickey Tsarfati, head of the union of electrical workers, was quoted in YNet: "It is unbelievable chutzpah for them to complain. We have not stopped supplying them with electricity for a minute. And they have not stopped logging bombs at us for a minute." Many of the workers who fix the lines to Gaza daily are residents of Sderot. It has happened more than once that bombs fell next to their homes as they were fixing the lines to supply electricity to the bombers.
Now the U.N. and the Quartet, and the Arab League are all getting demands to stop Israeli "sanctions" against the Gazans....
You tell me what other country would be supplying electricity to people who are bombing their children on a daily basis, and risking their lives to do so."
Naomi Ragen.
www.naomiragen.com