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After Gaza Power Plant Forced off, Humanitarian Conditions of Approximately 1.7 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip Deteriorate

8th November 2013 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights| Occupied Palestine

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses deep concern over the deterioration of humanitarian conditions of the civilian population due to the aggravation of the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip.

On Friday morning, 01 November 2013, the operation of the Gaza power plant was totally stopped due to the lack of fuel required for its operation. PCHR is deeply concerned that the current crisis may impact the access of 1.7 million Palestinians to vital services, including the supply of drinking water, and that this crisis may result in the suspension of work in some vital sectors, such as health, sanitation and education.

According to PCHR’s follow-up of the chronic power crisis in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Energy Authority in Gaza announced that the operation of the Gaza Power plant was totally stopped on Friday morning, 01 November 2012. The Energy Authority claimed that its counterpart in Ramallah stopped the fuel supplies required to operate the power plant and its requested taxes on the price of fuel. However, the Energy Authority in Gaza announced its inability to pay taxes on the price of the industrial fuel. On the other hand, the Energy Authority in Ramallah refused to provide any new fuel supplies required for operating the power plant resulting in the total lack of fuel and the shutdown of the plant.

The shutdown of the Gaza plant power has left serious consequences on the humanitarian conditions of the Gaza Strip’s population due to the deficit in daily needs of power in Gaza. The Electricity Distribution Company (GEDCO) in Gaza was forced to increase the hours of power outages on houses and vital facilities from 8 to 12 hours daily. Thus, the schedule, which is applied, based on which power will be distributed for six hours and then cut off for 12 hours resulting in further deterioration in humanitarian conditions of the Gaza Strip’s population. It should be mentioned that the power plant was providing around 65 megawatts during the years of its reparation and rehabilitation after being targeted and destroyed by Israeli forces in June 2006. The power plant had worked since June 2012 to produce around 100 megawatts. The Gaza Energy Authority stated that the electricity is provided to the Gaza Strip as follows: 120 megawatts from Israel and 27 megawatts supplied by Egypt.

The Gaza power plant has been suffering from a significant decrease in fuel supplies required for its operation coming from Egypt through tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, as the supplies have almost completely stopped for around 2 months. As a result, the Energy Authority in Gaza purchased fuel from Israel through its counterpart in Ramallah. At that time, the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah exempted fuel purchases from taxes. However, the Energy Authority in Ramallah demanded its counterpart in Gaza to pay the taxes on the fuel supplies due to the PA’s current financial crisis. The Energy Authority in Gaza refused to pay those taxes claiming that it cannot afford paying them.

PCHR has been following the power crisis consequences in the Gaza strip since the power plant stopped operating after Israeli forces targeted and destroyed it in June 2006 resulting in catastrophic impacts on the power supplies in the Gaza Strip. PCHR has been also following the impacts of the ongoing Palestinian political split, whose two parties failed to find solutions that take into account the best interests of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and stop the deterioration of humanitarian conditions and provide of their electrical power needs and fuel required to operate the Gaza plant power. PCHR is deeply concerned over further deterioration of civilians’ humanitarian conditions as the power crisis has affected all civilians’ daily life needs and violated their right to access to basic and necessary services, including access to health facilities and to treatment, access to educational institutions, including schools and universities, and access to water services, including drinking water in homes and all other vital services.

Through continuous follow-up of the effects of the aggravation of the power crisis, PCHR has observed serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation from which the residents of Gaza are suffering:

· About 1, 7 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip are facing deficiencies in all walks of their daily life, which have affected their basic needs, including health services, access to water, environmental health services and ability to meet the educational needs of school and university students.

· The deterioration of health conditions in the health facilities of the Gaza Strip due to inability to compensate the shortage of electricity for long hours on one hand, and their inability to provide fuel needed to run the alternative generators in these facilities on the other hand, in addition to breakdown of many machines and medical equipment at hospitals and health facilities of the Gaza Strip.

· Hundreds of patients in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip face serious health risks as the medical equipment are not run regularly, especially in the intensive care units and other medical units like heart and kidney units.

· Local bodies, including municipalities and village councils, are unable to provide alternative fuel to ensure the workflow of their vital facilities serving the population of the Gaza Strip, including water and sanitation facilities. Citizens’ complaints started to resound because of their inability to get water in their houses, especially in high buildings.

· Different bakeries in the Gaza Strip said that they partially stopped working due to the long hours of power outage and the shortage of the fuel needed to run the machines. One can notice overcrowding for long hours in front of bakeries in order to get the basic needs.

· Educational facilities in universities and educational institutions are suffering serious disorder, which led to the inactivity of many educational laboratories and the postponement of some educational assignments due to electricity shortage and lack of alternative power sources. The aggravation of electricity crisis has coincided with the mid-term exams that started about a week ago in the schools and universities of the Gaza Strip. The majority of governmental schools is still without electricity and cannot provide the students with alternatives.

· Hundreds of institutions and associations in the Gaza Strip had to postpone their activities and programs due to the electricity shortage all day and their inability to provide alternative power sources to run their machines and equipment.

· The suffering of the population of the Gaza Strip has seriously aggravated, especially those living in high buildings and who depend on elevators in the ascending and descending from their apartments. Dozens of residents, including elderly people and patients with chronic diseases have been greatly affected.

PCHR is following the power crisis in the Gaza Strip with grave concern and:

1. Calls on all concerned parties, including the Palestinian government in Ramallah, the Palestinian government in Gaza and the Electricity Distribution Company in Gaza to make efforts to provide the fuel needed to run the power plant and ensure its workflow with no cessation;

2. Warns of the serious consequences of the stoppage of the power plant on all vital sectors, including the basic services for about 1, 7 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, like drinking water supplies, disruption of health facilities, including hospitals and medical centers, in addition to the sewage plants and educational sectors.

3. Calls on the international community to pressurize Israel, the occupying power according to international humanitarian law, to lift the illegal closure imposed on the Gaza Strip since June 2007, to fulfill their legal commitments towards the civilian population of the Gaza Strip and to ensure access to all the medicines, food, and basic services, including fuel supplies needed to run the Gaza Power Plant.

Israeli forces use excessive force killing 2 Palestinian civilians at military checkpoint in the West Bank

8th November 2013 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights| Occupied Palestine

Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinian civilians at Za’tara checkpoint, south of Nablus, and the Container checkpoint, northeast of Bethlehem, in the West Bank.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 6pm on Thursday, 07 November 2013, Basheer Sami Salem Habnain, 29, from Marka village south of Jenin, was traveling in a taxi from Ramallah to Nablus. When he was about 20 meters away from Za’tara intersection, south of Nablus, he stepped down from the taxi and crossed the main road towards the other side. He was carrying a box of fireworks, from which flares were unleashed. Soon, an Israeli soldier descended from a military observation tower and fired directly at Habnain, killing him with 7 bullets to the legs and thighs and an 8th one which entered the back and exited the chest.

Israeli forces kept the victim’s body until 3am on Friday, 08 November 2013, when they handed the body to the Palestinian liaison department. The victim was a lecturer at the fashion department in Palestine Technical University (Kadoorie) in Tulkarm. Israeli forces claimed that “Habnain was carrying a flare gun, from which he fired at soldiers, so the soldiers responded by firing at him, and he was instantly killed.”

A video clip published on Youtube shows an Israeli soldiers descending from an Israeli military observation tower to the southeast of Za’tara checkpoint, and then firing at the area to the southwest of the checkpoint. Another 2 soldiers are seen in the video clip coming from the checkpoint. Even according to the Israeli narrative, Israeli forces could have used less lethal means against the victim, such as arresting him.

In a similar crime, at approximately 9:30 pm, Isma’il Fu’ad Refa’ei al-Atrash, 25, and his brother Anas, 23, arrived at the Container checkpoint, northeast of Bethlehem, traveling from Jericho to their home in Hebron. They were traveling in a civilian car driven by Isma’il. When they arrived the checkpoint, Isma’il slowed down to cross road bumps. Anas opened the door, and once he stepped down, Israeli soldiers shot him dead with 2 bullets to the chest.

Israeli soldiers took Anas’ body and put it in a plastic sac near the checkpoint. Residents of the area and a number of members of the victim’s family arrived at the checkpoint and skirmishes erupted between them and Israeli soldiers. Later, the family received Anas’ body. Israeli forces claimed that “the young man attempted to stab a soldier, so the latter fired at him directly, killing him.”

PCHR’s field worker in Hebron reported that he was not able to obtain a statement from the victim’s brother who was accompanying him during the attack, because the brother is suffering from a shock. PCHR will continue to investigate this crime. PCHR is deeply concerned over these crimes, which further prove the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians lives.

Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Israeli surveillance balloon over Palestinian farmland in ‘buffer zone’ near Beit Hanoun – 6/11/13

8th November 2013 | Corporate Watch, Tom Anderson and Therezia Cooper | Beit Hanoun, Occupied Palestine

An Israeli surveillance balloon was hovering above farmers working in Beit Hanoun in the 'buffer' area – 6/11/13. — An Israeli surveillance balloon was hovering above farmers working in Beit Hanoun in the ‘buffer’ area – 6/11/13.

Close-up of surveillance balloon – Beit Hanoun, 6/11/13

A Palestinian farmer sorts vegetables underneath the surveillance balloon – 6/11/13

Israeli surveillance balloon over Palestinian homes in the 'buffer' zone – 6/11/2013 — Israeli surveillance balloon over Palestinian homes in the ‘buffer’ zone – 6/11/2013

Photos: A hero returns to Gaza

5th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Charlie Andreasson | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

A hero return to Gaza (Photo by Joe Catron)

What could be a more appropriate theme for this Monday demonstration for prisoners than those recently released by Israel? Would it have been possible to have a different one? Possible, but hardly appropriate. On the street outside the Red Cross, a temporary stage with a lectern had been erected and draped with banners. Loudspeakers were deployed on it, as if for a rock concert, and together with rows of plastic chairs, it effectively blocked the street from traffic.

A hero return to Gaza (Photo by Charlie Andreasson)

Speeches were made, the media were in place, and more groups joined with their banners, even some that had no representative among the newly freed prisoners. The released detainees themselves had to give speeches, which were applauded by the audience, and finally, placards were handed out.

During one of the speeches, I was asked if I was interested in coming along to the Erez crossing, or the Beit Hanoun crossing as it is called here, to witness another release, which I accepted. But I doubted I had understood correctly. It was difficult to hear anything at all because of the volume of the speakers, and it was not yet time for the next group of 26 prisoners to be released as part of the agreement for the resumption of peace negotiations.

Anyway, I stepped into a hired bus as placards were distributed for the five, who had given 20 years or more of their lives in the struggle against the occupation, and for a second time in a week ended up at the northern crossing. And though I have been there recently, everything was very different except the crowds and banners.

Now, during the day, I could even see the wall that cuts off the landscape, that according to the Israeli dialectic is not a wall but a barrier. But while we waited, a growing number of taxis or private cars, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, and even an open truck, overcrowded with people waving flags of yellow, the Fatah color, appeared. The only noticeable difference was the absence of the press. As the only westerner, and with a camera too, I could not help but notice my position was unique.

Suddenly the murmur raised to a cheer as the crowd rushed through the open gates to meet 51-year-old Mohammed Abu Amsha, married with eight children, who had just been released after seven years in prison. It was his third prison term, and he has been denied adequate medical care for his heart and lung problems. But now he was a free man, and soon he was sitting in a car followed by us, among the narrow streets in the nearby village of Beit Hanoun, while children and adults alike curiously lined the walls and hung out of windows.

Women ululated as a tuk-tuk drove forward with big, booming speakers. A large celebration tent had been raised outside Abu Amsha’s family home. Those who had not found a place in any of all the plastic chairs patiently huddled in anticipation of getting in to express their congratulations, kiss Abu Amsha and be photographed with him.

I could not melt in. I was too different, and I’m afraid I stole some of the attention when children flocked around me, curious and smiling, and asked in faltering English how I felt, my name, and where I was from. Nothing could make them as happy and proud as when I agreed to their request to photograph them. But then someone took my hand and dragged me past the line of people waiting to get into the house, up the stairs and into the reception room.

Smiling people took turns hugging and touching Abu Amsha, a man who, after so many years in prison, is forced to wait another few days before he gets to be alone with his family. For it is a great day, not only for him, but for all those who see him as a hero in the struggle against the occupation. The focus of next Monday’s demonstration outside the Red Cross is already a given.

Protest against Israeli chemical factories in Tulkarem

5th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine

On the 4th of November, associations, officials and activists protested against the chemical factories that sicken the population of Tulkarem.

The construction of Israeli factories on Palestinian land near Tulkarem started in 1987. At the time locals were told these installations were a good will gesture that would provide employment.

26 years later the women’s group MIFTAH, surrounded by speakers from the Palestinian Government, Ministry of Health and local campaigners raised concerns about the high rates of cancer, respiratory diseases and skin ailments close to the factories. All of them condemned the factories.

It was reported that the factories do not operate when east winds would carry the fumes into Israel and that toxic waste had been buried on agricultural land in a nearby Palestinian village.

International activists then joined a protest march to the high wire topped wall that marks the boundary to the industrial complex.

The protest passed peacefully without the security forces attending.