Israel's cat and mouse game of starving Gaza of vital resources continues, despite a brief reprieve on fuel supply levels, writes Marian Houk in Jerusalem Reports of grave humanitarian consequences following phased cuts in the supply of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip forced Israel's Ministry of Defence to tweak its action on 10 January. The ministry has now authorised a restoration of diesel fuel supplies for Gaza's main power plant, back up to levels provided before Phase I fuel cuts went into effect 28 October. While not enough, as the winter cold began to bite the news came as a relief to many in Gaza. The densely populated and now near totally isolated coastal strip is completely dependent on Israel for fuel, and partially dependent for electricity. The Israeli military announced plans to institute progressive cuts in both fuel and electricity to sanction Gaza, on the basis of a 19 September decision by the Israeli cabinet to declare the strip a "hostile territory" or "enemy entity", in response to continuing Qassam rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza into Israel. The Israeli High Court of Justice, however, in response to petitions from Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, asked for a delay in electricity cuts until it sees a plan for avoiding negative humanitarian consequences. A further court hearing is scheduled for 3 February. But the court declined to intervene more strongly, because the military promised to keep the humanitarian situation under review. As a result, all decisions are being made solely by Israel's military. The decision to restore pre-cut levels of industrial diesel was taken by Israel's Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai after a meeting in the ministry last week to discuss the matter, ministry spokesperson Shlomo Dror said in a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly Monday. As to exact figures, with numerous parties involved, sometimes speaking on the basis of different criteria, clarity is difficult to reach. What appears certain is that the cuts are being approached as if the situation were a computer game, with consequences and risks and force or sanction levels in balance. Gaza City residents confirmed that they were experiencing lengthy blackouts last week, adding that they had no warning when these cuts would occur. "Suddenly, there is no light," said one. Another added, "there is a schedule, but we don't know it yet." According to the Israeli Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement (GISHA), which has played a leading role in petitions to the Israeli High Court, Gaza City's main Shifa Hospital has experienced power outages that sometimes lasted 12 hours, during which the hospital's water pump broke down, and medical care was disrupted. "We were forced to shut down vital systems in the hospital, and we could not clean the hospital, wash linens or operate the sterilisation system," according to a report from Hassan Khalef, general manager of Shifa Hospital. Basem Naim, minister of health of the deposed national unity government, also told a delegation of Israeli Arab doctors from the Physicians for Human Rights in Israel organisation that were visiting Gaza on Wednesday that the hospital's elevators could not operate during the outages, making patient transfers extremely difficult. Standby generators should normally function only for periods of half an hour, he said, but all of Gaza's hospitals are now using them for three hours at a time. Reportedly, the subject was discussed privately in Ramallah during the meeting between visiting US President George W Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "They talked about the situation in Gaza for a considerable time", according to a source in the Muqataa, "and President Abbas requested with much determination that President Bush intervene to lift the siege and all sanctions imposed by Israel on Gaza." This was confirmed by veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who said in a telephone interview 14 January that, "Abu Mazen said the humanitarian needs of the population in Gaza -- including fuel, electricity, water, food and medical supplies -- should not be touched, and Bush seemed to agree." Erekat added that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had also pledged, twice, not to touch these vital supplies -- the first time on 25 June at a meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, and the second time in early January. When news broke that the Israeli Defence Ministry had instructed the privately owned Israeli Dor Alon fuel company to restore previous levels of industrial fuel, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office amended their earlier statement and welcomed the move, but underlined that British ministers were nevertheless continuing to urge Israel "to lift all restrictions on fuel with immediate effect". The ministers' statement said: "we utterly condemn the rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel. We support all efforts to stop these attacks consistent with obligations under international law. The humanitarian needs of people who are in no way associated with the rocket attacks should not, however, be compromised." It added, "we also welcome Israel's recent lifting of the restrictions on non- industrial diesel, important for back-up generators and ambulances, and hope that this will not be reversed." This last remark was prescient, for on Monday, just two days later, prominent Israeli newspapers -- quoting anonymous defence officials -- reported that the restoration might just be a one-off reprieve. The Jerusalem Post published an article saying that defence officials said Sunday that once Palestinian fuel storage containers were full, Israel would then complete its disengagement from the Gaza Strip and cut off all ties, including the supply of fuel and electricity. "The idea is to give them an increased amount of fuel so they can quickly fill up their tankers and when they are full we will then cut the supplies," an unnamed defence official said. An Israeli official reportedly said, "Let's give them diesel, and separate them from the Israeli electricity network, and if they need more electricity, let them ask for it in Egypt," which, of course, was later denied. Indeed, there appears to be not only great mistrust, but also a serious problem of communication. Palestinians say they have made their needs quite clear. Present arrangements have the Palestinian Ministry of Finance communicating its fuel order requests to the Israeli Ministry of Finance. How the Israeli Ministry of Finance coordinates with the Israeli Ministry of Defence is not clear. The correct channel for the Palestinians suposedly goes through General Mishlev, coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territory, who Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, has been pleading with up to now. Erekat, contacted Monday evening -- after a day in which he participated in the first Israeli-Palestinian negotiating session on "core issues", and then in a Palestine Liberation Organisation Central Committee meeting to discuss the situation of the Palestinian Legislative Council -- said that he had handled the energy files, and that "Abu Mazen [Abbas] was personally involved as well," from April 2006 to July 2007. Since then these matters have become the responsibility of the Salam Fayyad government in the West Bank. The Israeli Ministry of Defence cannot claim ignorance of Palestinian fuel level requests as sworn affidavits from various Palestinian non-political officials giving precise figures and explanations have been submitted to the Israeli High Court in the case now under review.
