N.B. As per the disclaimer, neither the ICRC nor the authors can be identified with the opinions expressed in the Cases and Documents. Some cases even come to solutions that clearly violate IHL. They are nevertheless worthy of discussion, if only to raise a challenge to display more humanity in armed conflicts. Similarly, in some of the texts used in the case studies, the facts may not always be proven; nevertheless, they have been selected because they highlight interesting IHL issues and are thus published for didactic purposes.
[Source: Israeli Supreme Court, Jaber Al-Bassiouni Ahmed and others v. Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, 30 January 2008, available at http://elyon1.court.gov.il/files_eng/07/320/091/n25/07091320.n25.pdf, footnotes omitted]
HCJ 9132/07
The Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice
(30 January 2008)
[…]
JUDGMENT
‘The Hamas organization is a terrorist organization that has taken control of the Gaza Strip and turned it into a hostile territory. This organization carries out acts of hostility against the State of Israel and its citizens, and the responsibility for these acts lies with it. It has therefore been resolved to adopt the recommendations presented by the security establishment, including the continuation of the military and intelligence operations against the terrorist organizations. Additional restrictions will also be placed upon the Hamas regime, so that the passage of goods to the Gaza Strip will be limited, the supply of fuel and electricity will be reduced and restrictions will be imposed upon the movement of persons to and from the Strip. The restrictions will be implemented after considering the legal ramifications of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, in order to prevent a humanitarian crisis.’
The petition is directed against this decision.
[...]
[...]
[...]
Therefore, for the reasons set out above, the petition is denied.
Justice E. Hayut
I agree.
Justice J. Elon
I agree.
Petition denied. [...] 30 January 2008.
[1] The Coordination and Liaison Authority in Gaza is an organ of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), created by the Israeli Ministry of Defence, and whose task is to coordinate civilian issues between Israel and the Occupied Territories. In Gaza, the Coordination and Liaison Authority deals with questions regarding access to and from Gaza, including the passage of humanitarian goods. (Note of the authors)
[Source: International Committee of the Red Cross, “Gaza is running out of fuel”, 29 April 2008, available at http://www.icrc.org/eng]
The current fuel crisis is causing increasing hardship for the people of the Gaza Strip. The ICRC warns that the long-term consequences may be severe if sufficient supplies are not made available to ordinary people and for facilities like public transport, hospitals and water pumping stations.
Ten per cent of nurses, doctors and other hospital staff are unable to get to work due to lack of transport. As a result, patients are having to wait for operations. Several have simply given up trying to reach hospital. Schools and universities are only functioning partially, with some 15-20 per cent of children, students and teachers absent. There are few cars on the usually crowded streets. Even in Gaza City, donkeys have become the usual means of transportation.
“This is affecting every aspect of daily life. Farmers cannot harvest their crops, fishermen cannot go to sea and workers have difficulties getting around,” said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Gaza.
If the fuel crisis is not resolved soon, it will have a serious effect on food, health and education in Gaza. Hospitals and sewage pumping stations are on the verge of running out of fuel for their backup generators. When the fuel is gone, these facilities will be totally dependent on mains electricity, making them highly vulnerable to power cuts.
“The lack of fuel will also severely damage the agricultural sector and the fishing industry. The sardine season is approaching, and the onion and garlic harvest is supposed to take place over the coming days and weeks. If there is no fuel available for the harvest and for irrigation, the crops will rot in the fields,” adds Grand.
Humanitarian organizations are also affected by the crisis. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) ran out of fuel on 24 April, forcing it to stop distributing food. Médecins Sans Frontières has been forced to scale back its work and neither UNWRA nor the World Food Programme, who together feed over one million Gazans, will be able to start distributing food again until they receive diesel for their trucks.
As Grand points out, “Suspension of this assistance will have catastrophic consequences”.
The ICRC has already called for political solutions to the ongoing conflict on a number of occasions, pointing out that solving the problems is far beyond the ability of humanitarian organizations. Currently, aid workers are finding it difficult to operate in Gaza at all.
The amount of fuel available to the people of Gaza has been falling since October 2007. By March 2008, the amount of petrol available had fallen by an estimated 80%, while quantities of diesel had fallen by half. On 7 April, fuel distributors in Gaza went on strike in protest against the lack of fuel. Following the killing of two Israeli workers by Palestinian militants at a fuel station in Nahal Oz near Gaza, Israel has further restricted the amount of fuel entering the Strip.
Antoine Grand: “We urge all parties to allow the civilian population of Gaza to live normal, decent lives.”