Israel declares Gaza an “enemy entity”
Israel declares Gaza “enemy entity” as Rice visits By Jeffrey Heller 49 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel declared the Gaza Strip an “enemy
entity” on Wednesday and said it would reduce its fuel and power
supplies to the Hamas-run territory in response to rocket attacks by
Palestinian militants.
Hamas described the move, complicating a visit to the region by U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to prepare for a U.S.-led Middle
East peace conference, as a declaration of war.
“They aim to starve our people and force them to bow and accept
humiliating formulas that could emerge from the so-called November
peace conference,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said his security cabinet
approved the “enemy entity” classification and there would be
“limitations on imports to the Gaza Strip and a reduction in the
supply of fuel and electricity.”
It gave no starting date for the sanctions, saying they would be
implemented after Israeli authorities examined the legal and
humanitarian ramifications.
“We are going to ask the Americans to pressure Israel to refrain from
taking such action,” Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Malki
said in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Rice will meet
President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
Abbas set up a Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank
after Hamas Islamists routed fighters from his Fatah faction and
seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. Hamas has spurned Western
calls to recognize Israel and renounce violence.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice would
discuss the Israeli declaration during her meeting later on Wednesday
with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
“We will talk to them about it but they have said this was not
intended to affect the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” McCormack said.
PRESSURE
Faced with frequent cross-border rocket salvoes which the Israeli
military has been unable to stop, Olmert has been under pressure from
right-wing members of his government to order a broad ground
operation in the Gaza Strip to confront militants.
The security cabinet opted instead several weeks ago to weigh cutting
power to the area, sanctions Israeli officials acknowledged could be
seen as a violation of international law.
By formally defining the Gaza Strip as an enemy entity, Israel could
argue that it cannot be bound by international law governing the
administration of occupied territory to supply utilities to the
population of 1.5 million.
A senior U.N. official, however, cautioned Israel against cutting
essential services to Gaza.
“Any action to cut off electricity and other essentials is against
international humanitarian law, and Israel should consider this very
carefully before any actions that it takes,” the official said.
Israel withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
Palestinians say it is still under occupation because Israel controls
its borders, air space and coastal waters.
According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Gaza’s population
uses approximately 200 megawatts of electricity, out of which 120 are
provided directly from Israeli power lines, 17 are delivered from
Egypt and 65 are produced at a plant in Gaza.
The territory and its power station are also dependent on Israeli
fuel supplies, some funded by the European Union.
Beginning a visit to the region, Rice said “critical issues” would be
tackled at the Middle East conference, a meeting that Palestinians
hope will move them closer to statehood.
She said she hoped her trip would build momentum ahead of the
gathering and bridge differences on core matters — borders,
Jerusalem, refugees and security.
“The idea that somehow the president of the United States would call
an international meeting so that we could all have a photo-op is very
far-fetched,” said Rice, who will be in the Middle East for little
more than 24 hours.
(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming, Dan Williams and Adam Entous in
Jerusalem, Wafa Amr in Ramallah, and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza))