Blackouts expected as Israel closes Gaza borders for sixth day, EU MPs see victims of the brutal siege

Editor's Note:

The Israeli occupation government continues its war crimes by collectively punishing 1.5 Palestinians in Gaza Strip through depriving them of fuels necessary for electricity, transportation, and cooking. The new wave of collective punishment came in response to launching Palestinian rockets, which killed nobody. The rockets were the Palestinian retaliation for the Israeli killing of seven Palestinians last week.

The same Israeli terrorist tactic is applied again and again. Kill some Palestinians, then wait for their retaliation, which is used as an excuse for collective punishment of the entire Gaza Strip.

Date: 10 / 11 / 2008 Time: 10:19
Gaza - Ma'an –

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will spend Monday night without electricity as the Strip’s only power plant is expected to shut down due to Israeli fuel cuts.

Officials say the power station will shut off all its three turbines at 6:30pm, shortly after sundown, plunging the Strip into darkness.

The power plant, which runs on European-supplied industrial diesel, provides power for 40% of the Strip’s 1.5 million inhabitants, particularly in the center and south of the coastal territory. Other areas receive electricity from Egypt and Israel. In the north, in towns such as Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, residents already face daily power cuts due to an intermittent Israeli supply.

The Israeli occupation forces locked down all of Gaza’s commercial and humanitarian border crossings for the last six days.

The Israeli occupation government prevented shipments of food, fuel and gas supplies from entering the Gaza Strip. Blackouts began on Sunday night as the power plant began to reduce production due to a lack of fuel.

The Israeli occupation government Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, ordered the closures, and is expected to hold a “security assessment” meeting regarding the fuel shortage in Gaza on Monday.

The intensification of Israel’s sanctions coincides with a visit by 11 European parliamentarians who sailed to Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade. The MPs condemned what they said was collective punishment of the people of Gaza.

“The siege of Gaza is an illegal and immoral act of collective punishment imposed on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip for the ‘crime’ of voting in internationally supervised elections for a party not supported by the Western powers,” said former British cabinet secretary Clare Short, in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for the 11:05pm Sunday launch of a homemade projectile at the Israeli town of Kfar Aza east of Gaza City.

According to the Brigade's statement the attack “came in retaliation for Israeli aggressions and to affirm our choice of resistance.”

Israeli sources confirmed the attack.

***Updated 13:36 Bethlehem Time

EU Parliamentarians visit a Gaza monument for the victims of the siege

Monday November 10, 2008 02:02 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

EU Parliamentarians, who sailed to Gaza along with the “Dignity” boat, the third Free Gaza Ship to anchor in Gaza, visited on Sunday a monument remembering the victims who died due to the unjust Israeli siege against the Gaza Strip.

The parliamentarians were accompanied by legislator Jamal El-Khodary, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege.

The visiting parliamentarians also placed roses on the monument.

El Khodary handed the parliamentarians booklets issued by the Popular Committee. The booklets were issued as the Committee marks it first anniversary. They detail the impacts of the Israeli siege in the Gaza Strip and the activities of the committee inside Gaza and abroad.

El Khodary provided a detailed report on the effects of the Israeli siege on all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip. He also said that the monument was installed by the committee on October 27, 2008, in order to preserve the memory of the patients who died due to the unjust and inhuman siege enforced by the occupation and heavily supported by the US administration.

The parliamentarians expressed shock over the overwhelming misery in Gaza, and said that they stand in respect to all victims who died after Israeli barred them from leaving Gaza for medical treatment.

More than 255 Palestinians, including children, infants and elderly, died due to the ongoing Israeli siege which emptied Gaza hospitals of the basic medical supplies and equipment needed to run essential medical equipment.

Due to fuel shortage, Gaza power company warns of an upcoming power outage

Sunday November 09, 2008 18:45 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Gaza Strip's electricity power company warned on Sunday of an upcoming power outage due to shortage of industrial crude fuel needed for generating electricity, which Israel has stopped supplying for the past few days.

In a statement, emailed to press, the company warned of a power outage across the coastal territory, blaming Israel for not supplying the needed daily needs of fuel used in generating electricity.

The statement read that any power failure would affect essential serviced such as sanitation, hospitals and water networks throughout the Gaza Strip, expecting a serious power supply shortage in 24 hours.

The electricity company called on all concerned institutions to intervene for preventing an imminent humanitarian crisis in Gaza, unless Israel resumes supplying fuel.

Last week, Israel sealed off completely all Gaza's crossings in the wake of a series of homemade shells attacks onto nearby Israeli towns, after the Israeli army attacked some parts of Gaza, killing eight people including 6 resistance fighters.

Today, Israeli infrastructure called for complete halt of fuel supplies to the coastal Strip, in response to resumed homemade shells fire.

Both Israel and Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza agreed in June19, to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire deal, aimed at stopping Israeli military actions and gradual lift of a 17-month-long Israeli blockade, in return for halt of homemade shells fire onto nearby Israel.

European campaign: We hope more ships will arrive at Gaza

[ 09/11/2008 - 04:08 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The European campaign to end the siege on Gaza has said that the successive successes of the sea voyages to the besieged Gaza Strip called for an Arab and international effort to send more ships loaded with all Gaza needs to the Strip.

Dr. Arafat Madi, the head of the campaign, said in a statement on Sunday said that the third such voyage proved that the sea route between Gaza and the Cypriot port of Larnaca is open.

He said that solidarity activists wishing to travel to Gaza on board those trips are increasing daily including MPs, politicians, legal experts and peace activists.

Madi, who was on board the Dignity boat that anchored at Gaza on Saturday, said that his campaign was embarking on big efforts to secure Gaza's medical needs, noting that Dignity had on board a ton of medicines and medical equipment.

Members of the third voyage are to remain in Gaza for three days and tour its various damaged utilities and infrastructure.

They visited the PLC building and conferred with their Palestinian counterparts. They expressed sympathy with the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails and promised to raise their question in European parliaments.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mohammed Awad, the head of the governmental committee to break the siege, said in a press release on Sunday that the "oppressive siege" would end soon thanks to the steadfastness of the besieged citizens and their rejection of the Zionist threats and measures.

He said that the sea voyages to the Strip indicated that the end of the siege was near, noting that the freedom loving people in the world would not forsake Gaza.

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