Gaza Strip hit with 'collective punishment'

The Israeli air force carried out a series of air strikes on June 28 in the Gaza Strip that destroyed several bridges and Gaza's main power station. The series of air raids and ensuing Israeli army incursions in Gaza were carried out in response to the abduction of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants on June 25. On the first of seven consecutive nights of air strikes over the territory, Israeli warplanes targeted the main power station in Gaza, knocking out electricity in the southern part of the strip. The pilots then fired missiles at several main bridges in southern Gaza, rendering them completely impassable. Roads in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis were also targeted. One witness who could see the power station from his home, said: "After the initial bombing of the station, Palestinian firefighters managed to put out the blaze…. Then the station was struck again. Everytime they found the firemen had put out the fire, they repeated their bombing runs." The power plant's operations manager predicted that it would not generate electricity again before the end of the year, raising the prospect that more than half of Gaza's 1.4 million residents, including a large part of Gaza City, will be without power for months. "This plant produced 60 percent of the strip's electricity. Now it's completely shut down," he said. The most audible element of the "message" Israel says it is delivering to Gaza in the hope of securing the safe release of one its soldiers are the sonic booms produced by warplanes deliberately flying faster than the speed of sound over Gaza. The booms produce the shattering sound of a heavy explosion in the immediate vicinity. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly told his cabinet that the army has been instructed "to make sure no one sleeps at night in Gaza." In a statement the Israeli army said that it had "... carried out an aerial attack on an electricity transformer station south of Gaza city...." and that–The IDF will continue to employ all means at its disposal against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in order to ensure the quick and safe return home of [the kidnapped soldier]." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the destruction of Gaza's infrastructure "collective punishment and a crime against humanity," and called for the international community to intervene. UN Palestinian mission chief Riyad Mansour called Israel's actions a "huge" crime against humanity that was endangering the 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. "The situation is extremely grave, and there is a lack of food, lack of medicine, of course, there is no electricity... there is a serious shortage of water," he said. The UN estimates that about 130,000 Gazans have been left without a regular supply of fresh water and that many more receive it only sporadically or in sufficient quantities for drinking and cooking but not for bathing and laundry. Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved a limited opening of two border crossings on July 1 to allow in basic supplies of food, fuel and medical supplies. By the next day, 50 trucks of wheat, corn, meat, cooking oil and other basics had passed through the Karni crossing. About 265,000 gallons of diesel fuel, 21,000 gallons of gasoline and 200,000 tons of natural gas were shipped through the fuel terminal at Nahal Oz. While a humanitarian crises was averted, there are still no stored food quantities in the Gaza Strip and the electricity supply remained erratic. Sewage was becoming widespread in the streets, presenting a looming health crisis. During an emergency meeting of the new UN Human Rights Council on July 5, UN envoy John Dugard said that Israel was violating in Gaza the "most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law." Switzerland also condemned the air strikes. Israel broke humanitarian law by inflicting "collective punishment" on Palestinians, the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement. Amnesty International said the Gaza attacks "violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes." The organization said that "the deliberate destruction of the Gaza Strip's only electricity power station, water networks, bridges, roads and other infrastructure is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention." Following a Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli city of Ashkelon on July 5, Israel's security cabinet instructed the army to begin a long battle focusing on "institutions and infrastructure facilitating terrorism."