The Israeli occupation High Court of Justice on Wednesday
gave the state a green light to reduce the supply of power
and fuel to the Gaza Strip, ruling that the reductions are
legal as they still meet the humanitarian needs
of the population.
Israeli occupation Defense Minister Ehud Barak
approved the plan to reduce electricity, gasoline
and diesel fuel supplies in late October last year,
thereby accepting the defense establishment's
recommendation to impose economic sanctions
on the Gaza.
In Wednesday's ruling, the court denied petitions
presented by several human rights organizations
seeking to stop the government's plans to scale back
the supply of fuel and electricity to the Strip. Severa
l human rights groups had challenged the sanctions,
but Wednesday's ruling denied their petitions.
Palestinian officials say the cutbacks have harmed
Gaza's already impoverished residents by causing
power shortages and crippling crucial utilities.
Israel supplies all of Gaza's fuel and more than
two-thirds of its electricity. "We emphasize that
the Gaza Strip is controlled by a murderous terror
group that operates incessantly to strike the state
of Israel and its citizens, and violates every precept
of international law with its violent actions,"
Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch wrote.
The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in
the occupied territories, a leading opponent of the
Gaza cuts slammed the court decision as a "dangerous
precedent. This is a dangerous legal precedent that
allows Israel to continue to violate the rights of Gaza
residents and deprive them of basic humanitarian
needs in violation of international law, the groups said
in a statement," the group said in a statement. Fawzi
Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said Wednesday's
decision reflects the "criminal, ugly face of the occupation."
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