15_12_07
NEWS UPDATE
25 December 2007
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority
Rights in
Israel * Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement * HaMoked: Center
for the
Defence of the Individual * Physicians for Human Rights-Israel * The
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights * The Public Committee Against
Torture in
Israel * Gaza Community Mental Health Programme * B’Tselem – The
Israeli
Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories *
Al-Haq * Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
Supreme
Court Sharply Criticizes State Attorneys for Submitting Erroneous
Information
on Gaza
Electricity Supply
"The
facts were not
properly investigated,” wrote the justices in today's decision, and
they
ordered the state to complete the information in advance of a hearing
in late
January. "The course of events described above is puzzling,” the
justices
said.
Meanwhile:
State announces
that it will cut gasoline supplies to Gaza
even further.
In
the petition challenging punitive sanctions against Gaza residents, submitted by 10
human rights groups,
represented by Gisha and Adalah,
Israel's
Supreme Court had ordered the state to
provide information on its plan to reduce electricity supplies to Gaza and the effects on Gaza's
residents. This ruling came after the
petitioners submitted substantial information showing that any
reduction in
electricity supply to Gaza
would inevitably damage the operation of hospitals, water systems, and
other
vital services. Yet in a document submitted by the state last week, the
state
attorney's office admitted that it gave the justices substantially
incorrect
information, and that the state officials who created the plan to cut
electricity to Gaza
did not even know how much
electricity Israel
provides and how much they were cutting. The document submitted by the
state
last week also ignored the court's detailed instructions, to provide
information to back the claim that the reduction would not harm
humanitarian
needs. Today, the court gave its sharp criticism.
Even
as the justices criticized the state for loose facts
on electricity, the state announced that it would deepen the cut in
gasoline
(petrol) to Gaza,
beginning Sunday, December 30, to up to 43% of the amount provided
before the
cuts. Yesterday, Gisha and Adalah asked the court for a preliminary
injunction
against this further cut, but no decision has yet been given. The fuel
cuts,
which began in October, have already caused severe damage to vital
institutions
in Gaza.
The
state said yesterday that it would temporarily restore diesel supplies
to Gaza,
which had also been
cut. The cuts in the various types of fuel have paralyzed some
operations in
hospitals and clinics and deprived tens of thousands of people of
access to
clean water. Garbage has been piling up in the streets, because there
is no gas
for sanitation trucks.
The
electricity cuts are on hold, pending the court's
decision, but the fuel cuts have been in effect since October 28, 2007.
Israel,
which controls Gaza's
borders, sells fuel and electricity to Gaza
and does not allow fuel to be imported any other way.
According
to Sari Bashi, Gisha's Director: "The
court's decision shows the many flaws in the behavior of the state,
which first
decides to punish and only later asks what the consequences are for 1.5
million
Gaza residents, who have no way to protect themselves."
According
to Fatmeh al-'Ajou, Adalah Attorney: "The
state of Israel, which controls Gaza's borders and its ability to
receive fuel
and electricity, is causing severe harm to welfare of Gaza residents,
in clear
violation of its international law obligations."
H.C.
9132/07, Jaber al-Basyouni Ahmed v. The Prime Minister
(pending)
Legal Documents
The
petition
The
petition (Hebrew)
The initial
response of the state (Hebrew)
The
decision of the Supreme Court (Hebrew)
The
response of the state (Hebrew)
The
response of the petitioners (Hebrew)
The
Decision of the Supreme Court, 29 November 2007
The
Decision of the Supreme Court, 29 November 2007 (Hebrew)
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