War crimes

From the BBC

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will not let his country's blockade of the Gaza Strip turn into a humanitarian crisis.

But he said he could not allow Gazans to live normal lives while people in southern Israel were under rocket fire.

He was speaking hours after tens of thousands of Palestinians surged into Egypt to buy supplies as the border wall was partly destroyed.

Egypt has said it will not use force to send them back.

Foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said the border would be closed again when all the Palestinians had returned.

Depriving people of medicine, food supplies and electricity. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians surging into Egypt to buy supplies seems, to me, to already be a humanitarian crisis.

When the UN cannot deliver the necessary amount of food and medicine and when there is a severe fuel shortage

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today reports that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains very difficult.

According to UNRWA [The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East], the Israeli authorities have introduced new security measures – mainly for sugar and flour – which are hampering the delivery of aid. The agency did manage to get three truckloads of powdered milk in today, but it had been hoping for 9. In addition, an expected truckload of medicines never made it through.

Regarding fuel, UNRWA says only 200,000 liters went to the main power plant in Gaza today. An additional 750,000 liters went yesterday. This falls well short of the 2.2 million liters promised by the Israeli authorities. If the current fuel levels continue, the power plant may shut down by the end of the week, UNRWA adds.

it is a humanitarian crisis. I find Ehud Olmert's denials disgusting. It is wrong to punish a civilian population. There are laws against that. In fact Israel's latest action could be considered as crimes against humanity and/or war crimes depending on intent and ability to prove in an international tribunal.

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