Related Post
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have warned of the continuing power outages in Gaza, resulting from Israel’s prevention of fuel supplies. They said in separate statements that its humanitarian impacts were “devastating.”
Amnesty International stressed that the immediate entry of sufficient levels of fuel is essential to enable the healthcare system to provide life-saving services.
She added that allowing the entry of fuel and restoring power is “an urgent humanitarian necessity that should not be delayed further under any circumstances.”
The organization pointed out that Gaza is likely to experience another complete communications blackout today, Thursday, if the Strip is not supplied with fuel “immediately.”
Amnesty International noted that Israel’s continued refusal to provide sufficient fuel and restore power will lead to the complete shutdown of Gaza’s communications network and “will exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation.”
The organization said that the fuel ban has severely affected the provision of vital services to the remaining dilapidated medical facilities that treat thousands of sick victims of the ongoing attack on Gaza, and also hindered the rescue of the wounded trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.
“This situation will be further exacerbated by the collapse of communications services, which in itself may amount to a violation of international law,” said Rasha Abdel Rahim, Technology Director at Amnesty International.
According to the organization, the disruption of communications prevents international and local organizations from documenting human rights violations, such as unlawful killing or disproportionate use of force.
For its part, Human Rights Watch said that the Israeli government’s decision to prevent the delivery of fuel to Gaza will lead to a complete and imminent communications outage unless it is addressed urgently, thus exposing the lives of Gazans to further danger.
The organization called on Israel to allow fuel into Gaza and to refrain from deliberately shutting down or destroying telecommunications systems that cause severe harm to civilians.
