Rights groups call on Israel to end Gaza fuel cuts
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups called on Israel on Tuesday to lift restrictions on fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip, accusing it of jeopardising the health of the civilian population.
They also called on armed groups in Gaza not to target civilians or border crossings used to transport fuel, food and other basic supplies into the Hamas-run territory.
"We call upon Israel, the occupying power in Gaza, immediately to end the six-month-long restrictions on fuel supply that have paralysed Gaza's infrastructure and endangered the health and well-being of Gaza's 1.5 million residents," the groups said in a joint statement.
Nine groups signed the appeal, including Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, the Israel-based Gisha Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement and the Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights in the Gaza Strip.
The rights groups accused Israel of preventing Gazans "from obtaining the fuel they need to generate electricity, power hospitals, run transportation, pump water and sewage, and provide for basic social and economic needs."
"We assert that acts of reprisals and collective penalties against civilians are unjustified and could be considered war crimes that must be investigated and stopped," the statement said.
They also called on "armed groups in Gaza to refrain from attacking civilians, including at the crossings that channel fuel, food, and other goods into the Gaza Strip."
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees had interrupted its food aid deliveries to some 650,000 Gazans for four days until it received fuel for its trucks on Monday.
Virtually all of Gaza's fuel goes through the Nahal Oz terminal on the Israeli border, which has been open only sporadically since Gaza militants attacked it on April 9, killing two Israeli employees.
Israel has sealed off the Gaza Strip to all but very limited humanitarian supplies since Hamas seized control of the territory last June.
Israel says the blockade is intended to put pressure on the Islamists to stop persistent rocket fire by militants against its territory.
