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UN official accuses Israel of excessive force in Gaza
Nusseirat, Gaza Strip (AFP) Jul 25, 2006 Palestinian officials at the plant warned it would take months and cost millions to repair the transformers, which have been non-operational since the raid, enforcing electricity rationing and provoking health concerns. "This a very clear disproportional use. Maybe this is the clearest of it all," Egeland told reporters as he toured the Gaza power plant which had supplied 70 percent of the power to the 1.4 million residents. "Civilian infrastructure is protected... the law is very clear," he said. Israel fired eight missiles into the plant's six transformers not long after midnight on June 28, launching a huge offensive after two Israeli soldiers were killed by Palestinian militants and a third snatched in a cross-border raid. "This plant is more important for hospitals, for sewage, and for water of civilians than for any Hamas man or (Islamic) Jihad man with some kind of a missile on his shoulder who doesn't need electricity, as a mother trying to care for her child." Before the strike, the Gaza Power Generating Company plant pumped out 140 megawatts and provided 70 percent of Gaza's electricity needs. Today, residents of one of the most densely populated places on earth have access to only 40 percent of their power needs, Abdul Halim, maintenance manager at the plant told AFP. People in Gaza were "going through a crisis of very little water, very little electricity" causing "more diahorrea, more diseases and more suffering," Egeland said. A total of 114 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have now been killed in Israel's offensive, which the army said intends to stop Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel and to recover missing Corporal Gilad Shalit. "Missiles have to stop and destructive incursions have to stop," Egeland said. Palestinian militants on Tuesday nonetheless fired three rockets into southern Israel, lightly wounding one foreign worker. Inspecting the ruined transformers with Egeland, Rafiq Maliha, project manager at the plant, said direct losses amounted to 10 million dollars, rising to more than 15-16 million dollars taking production losses into account. On an "optimistic" count, he said it would take eight to 10 months to repair the transformers, but that partial production would be restored within three to four months, although there was "no clear fund" to pay for the work. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has defended the plant attack as part of a strategy aimed at preventing Shalit's captors from smuggling him out of Gaza. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links
Evacuation operations focus on bombed-out south Lebanon
Tyre, Lebanon (AFP) Jul 25, 2006 Nations striving to evacuate the last of their citizens from the Middle East conflict concentrated their operations Tuesday on southern Lebanon, the scene of relentless Israeli air strikes. |
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