Israel considers cutting off Gaza’s electricity if homemade shells fired

Monday September 24, 2007 15:58 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli security committee, installed by the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, in the wake of the Israeli cabinet’s announcement ‘Gaza is an enemy entity’, recommended that Israel should cut off an Israeli power cable, feeding Gaza, once a Palestinian homemade rocket lands in Israel.

a Palestinian homemade shell / archive photo

The committees’ recommendation would include five main power supply cables, feeding Gaza with the needed electricity.

In case the Israeli defense minister approves the recommendation, he will have to submit it to the minister of infrastructure, Fouad BinElaizer, for final approval by the Israeli power company, the Israeli Maareef Daily reported.

Quoting an Israeli security source, the Maareef newspaper said “ it is not anticipated that the international community would criticize Israel for imposing such a punishment”.

“Cutting off electricity would take few hours during night time and this would mean that Israel does not intend to create chaos in the coastal region, however, Hamas should understand that each rocket being fired on Israel should definitely have a price, the source was quoted as saying.

Last week, Israel declared the Gaza Strip an ‘enemy entity’, in what Israel calls ‘an attempt’ to put an end to Palestinian homemade shells fire onto nearby Israeli towns.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and the deposed Hamas-dominated government in Gaza branded the decision ‘policy of collective punishment’ against the Palestinian people.

As of recently, deposed Palestinian prime minister of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, has called on Palestinian resistance factions involving that of Hamas, to stop firing homemade shells onto Israel-Gaza border lines, in a bid to what Haniya called averting the region more plight.

gaza strip | israeli attacks | news report rami at imemc dot org