Remember, everything Hitler did was 'legal' too. This is intended to provoke a violent response, which can then be used to 'justify' the massive Aggression Israel plans to undertake following Annapolis.
Mazuz OKs cuts to Gaza's electricity
The Justice Ministry on Thursday confirmed that Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz has approved in principle a plan to reduce the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Kassam attacks, on condition that the flow is not completely cut off at any time and that residents are given ample warning to forestall any possible humanitarian crisis.
(I'd like to hear their definitions for 'ample warning' and 'humanitarian crisis'.)
The official statement came in response to an article that appeared in Ma'ariv on Thursday morning which first reported the attorney-general's conditional decision.
According to the Justice Ministry statement, Deputy Attorney-General Malchiel Balass told a special planning committee headed by the Defense Ministry that Mazuz would approve the sanction if the army used regulators to diminish the flow of electricity according to a controlled system.
"In that way," media adviser Moshe Cohen wrote, "there will be a guarantee that the electricity supply is reduced but not completely cut off so that the harm caused will be the minimum necessary to safeguard humanitarian needs. This is in keeping with international law and the decision of the government which stated that the measures taken against Gaza would not cause humanitarian harm."
Mazuz was referring to the government decision of September 19 which declared Gaza a "hostile territory" and declared that it would take punitive measures, including imposing heavier restrictions on movement of civilians through the border crossings and cutbacks on the supply of power and fuel, in retaliation for Kassam attacks. Israel directly supplies 62.5 percent of Gaza's electricity and exports fuel which accounts for another 28% of Gaza's power supply.
The cabinet added that "the significance of the decision is that Israel will not supply anything more aside from Gaza's humanitarian needs."
The decision to cut electricity and fuel supplies was pending approval of the proposed measures by Mazuz. On October 29, Mazuz rejected the Defense Ministry's initial approval for cutting off electricity in the Gaza Strip, but gave the go-ahead for other measures, such as a reduction in fuel supplies. The cutback on fuel supplies went into effect immediately.
On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that Israel had cut the flow of industrial gasoline to the Gaza Strip in the first 12 days of November by 32%, compared to the first 12 days in October. Diesel fuel exports in the same two periods fell by 24%.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195127517226&pagename=JPost/JPArtic
Israel's legal advisor halts Gaza power cuts
Published: Monday October 29, 2007
Israel's state prosecutor said Monday that planned punitive cuts in the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip cannot go ahead without taking full account of the possible humanitarian consequences.
(And, no doubt, the negative PR this would entail ...)
Menahem Mazouz said in a statement that "security chiefs must carry out supplementary examinations to take account of the humanitarian obligations before ordering electricity cuts."
A spokesman for Mazouz's office, Moshe Cohen, told AFP there was a need to "evaluate the risks that such measures could have on the civilian population."
Mazouz published his advice following close consultations with officials from the justice, defence and foreign ministries as well as the prime minister's office and the supreme court.
The supreme court has meanwhile given the government until Friday to justify the economic sanctions it is seeking to impose on the Palestinian territory, following legal action taken by 10 human rights groups.
Israel on Sunday began reducing the amount of fuel it supplies to the beleaguered Hamas-run coastal strip, just weeks after it declared the territory a "hostile entity" in response to frequent but rarely lethal rocket attacks.
(However, Israeli officials have since stated that this is not about the rockets - as defense analysts predict these measures would most likely increase their frequency - but about distancing Israel from Gaza's infrastructure. Considering Israel's long-held plans for a massive military assault on the Strip, this is most likely about softening up the region for reoccupation.)
Amid international criticism of the move as "collective punishment", it said it intended to impose electricity cuts within the next few days.
www.rawstory.com/news/afp/Israel_s_legal_advisor_halts_Gaza_p_10292007.h
Israeli Escalation To Begin Today
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7736/index.php
Israel Arbitrarily Blocks Medical Evacuations from Gaza
www.www.uruknet.info/?p=m37382&hd=&size=1&l=e
PHOTO ESSAY:
www.hrw.org/photos/2007/iopt1007/
The True Intent Behind Gaza's Collective Punishment
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7728/index.php
ALERT: Annapolis a Charade: Olmert Plotting Massive Aggression
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7889/index.php
The Justice Ministry on Thursday confirmed that Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz has approved in principle a plan to reduce the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Kassam attacks, on condition that the flow is not completely cut off at any time and that residents are given ample warning to forestall any possible humanitarian crisis.
(I'd like to hear their definitions for 'ample warning' and 'humanitarian crisis'.)
The official statement came in response to an article that appeared in Ma'ariv on Thursday morning which first reported the attorney-general's conditional decision.
According to the Justice Ministry statement, Deputy Attorney-General Malchiel Balass told a special planning committee headed by the Defense Ministry that Mazuz would approve the sanction if the army used regulators to diminish the flow of electricity according to a controlled system.
"In that way," media adviser Moshe Cohen wrote, "there will be a guarantee that the electricity supply is reduced but not completely cut off so that the harm caused will be the minimum necessary to safeguard humanitarian needs. This is in keeping with international law and the decision of the government which stated that the measures taken against Gaza would not cause humanitarian harm."
Mazuz was referring to the government decision of September 19 which declared Gaza a "hostile territory" and declared that it would take punitive measures, including imposing heavier restrictions on movement of civilians through the border crossings and cutbacks on the supply of power and fuel, in retaliation for Kassam attacks. Israel directly supplies 62.5 percent of Gaza's electricity and exports fuel which accounts for another 28% of Gaza's power supply.
The cabinet added that "the significance of the decision is that Israel will not supply anything more aside from Gaza's humanitarian needs."
The decision to cut electricity and fuel supplies was pending approval of the proposed measures by Mazuz. On October 29, Mazuz rejected the Defense Ministry's initial approval for cutting off electricity in the Gaza Strip, but gave the go-ahead for other measures, such as a reduction in fuel supplies. The cutback on fuel supplies went into effect immediately.
On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that Israel had cut the flow of industrial gasoline to the Gaza Strip in the first 12 days of November by 32%, compared to the first 12 days in October. Diesel fuel exports in the same two periods fell by 24%.
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195127517226&pagename=JPost/JPArtic
Israel's legal advisor halts Gaza power cuts
Published: Monday October 29, 2007
Israel's state prosecutor said Monday that planned punitive cuts in the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip cannot go ahead without taking full account of the possible humanitarian consequences.
(And, no doubt, the negative PR this would entail ...)
Menahem Mazouz said in a statement that "security chiefs must carry out supplementary examinations to take account of the humanitarian obligations before ordering electricity cuts."
A spokesman for Mazouz's office, Moshe Cohen, told AFP there was a need to "evaluate the risks that such measures could have on the civilian population."
Mazouz published his advice following close consultations with officials from the justice, defence and foreign ministries as well as the prime minister's office and the supreme court.
The supreme court has meanwhile given the government until Friday to justify the economic sanctions it is seeking to impose on the Palestinian territory, following legal action taken by 10 human rights groups.
Israel on Sunday began reducing the amount of fuel it supplies to the beleaguered Hamas-run coastal strip, just weeks after it declared the territory a "hostile entity" in response to frequent but rarely lethal rocket attacks.
(However, Israeli officials have since stated that this is not about the rockets - as defense analysts predict these measures would most likely increase their frequency - but about distancing Israel from Gaza's infrastructure. Considering Israel's long-held plans for a massive military assault on the Strip, this is most likely about softening up the region for reoccupation.)
Amid international criticism of the move as "collective punishment", it said it intended to impose electricity cuts within the next few days.
www.rawstory.com/news/afp/Israel_s_legal_advisor_halts_Gaza_p_10292007.h
Israeli Escalation To Begin Today
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7736/index.php Israel Arbitrarily Blocks Medical Evacuations from Gaza
www.www.uruknet.info/?p=m37382&hd=&size=1&l=e
PHOTO ESSAY:
www.hrw.org/photos/2007/iopt1007/
The True Intent Behind Gaza's Collective Punishment
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7728/index.php ALERT: Annapolis a Charade: Olmert Plotting Massive Aggression
http://www.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7889/index.php 
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