UN-Truth

In a devastating blow, the Israeli Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision to tighten fuel cuts and to inaugurate graduated electricity cuts to the Gaza strip. The new and deeper sanctions are to start on 7 February.

Although the ruling is disappointing — and life-threatening — it is not surprising.

The Israeli High Court of Justice rarely, if ever, goes against Israeli military decisions.

The fact that this ruling is being handed down just hours before the release of the final version of the Winograd Committee’s evaluation of Israel’s Second War in Lebanon (12 July -14 August 2006) means that it may get somewhat lost in the media frenzy. Calls for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for “early” elections, and speculation about what a change of government will mean for the Annapolis-launched Israeli-Palestinian “final status” negotiations will all overwhelm the news from the Supreme Court.

Lawyers from the ten Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations who have been petitioning the Supreme Court to block these sanctions were not optimistic after Sunday’s hearing (see post below).

They said on Sunday that they will simply go back to court and keep trying.

Sari Bashi, director of GISHA, commented after the ruling that “The petitioners had claimed that cutting fuel and electricity supplies constitutes forbidden collective punishment and violates the international law prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians … At the last hearing held Sunday, Jan. 27, Israel ‘ s military prevented utility officials from Gaza from attending the hearing, in violation of a previous commitment to the court. The state attorneys offered oral testimony by a military official, unsubstantiated by affidavit as required, claiming that the cuts would not harm humanitarian needs”.

Bashi said: ‘This is an unprecedented decision authorizing collective punishment in its most blatant form. The court ruling relies on unsubstantiated declarations by the military and ignores the indisputable and well-documented evidence of harm to civilians caused by the fuel and electricity cuts – with no legally valid justification’.

Hassan Jabarin, Director of Adalah, said after the ruling that: ‘According to the Supreme Court’s decision, it is permitted to harm Palestinian civilians and create a humanitarian crisis for political reasons. This constitutes a war crime under international criminal law‘.”
Gisha and Adalah said jointly that: “This decision sets a dangerous legal precedent that allows Israel to continue to violate the rights of Palestinians in Gaza and deprive them of basic humanitarian needs, in violation of international law.”

Haaretz reported this evening that Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, who headed the three-judge panel presiding over the case, wrote in the ruling: “We emphasize that the Gaza Strip is controlled by a murderous terror group that operates incessantly to strike the state of Israel and its citizens, and violates every precept of international law with its violent actions … during wartime, the civilian population is the first and central victim of the fighting, even when efforts are made to minimize the damage. Even within Israeli territory, in the age of terror attacks that has been going on for many years, the immediate and main victim is the civilian population. However, in the case of the attacks against Israel, the damage is not accidental, but rather a result of deliberate and frequent assaults on civilian populations which are aimed at harming innocent civilians. This is the difference between Israel – a democracy fighting for its life within the confines of the law – and the terrorist organizations trying to destroy it.” The Haaretz report on the ruling is here.

The AP reported that: “Israel will continue to supply some fuel and electricity, and the judges said those supplies would ‘fulfill the vital humanitarian needs of the Gaza Strip at this time’. The court said Israel is ‘required to act against terror organizations in accordance with the norms of international law and abstain from deliberately harming the civilian population located in the Gaza Strip’ … Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said Wednesday’s decision ‘reflects the criminal, ugly face of the occupation’.” This AP report is posted here.

Meanwhile, this ruling also keeps pressure on Hamas, as PA President Mahmoud Abbas is in Egypt to discuss the breach in the border at Rafah. Abbas says he will not talk to Hamas until they give back Gaza. And Abbas says he wants to go back to the exact same November 2005 regime that previously governed the Rafah crossing. That November 2005 agreement was brokered by Condoleeza Rice, who has recently seemed more flexible than Abbas on what to do about the Rafah crossing now…

Filed under: Gaza, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, Sanctions