"A LITTLE DISCOMFORT" IN THE GAZA STRIP

July 2, 2006 at 20:07 (Uncategorized)

As this child watches the burial of a loved one in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister is telling the world that there “is a little discomfort in Gaza”…
Is this man a total idiot???? Does he really believe that everyone reading his words is as stupid as his comrade Dubya??

The following report is from HaAretz….

PM Olmert says Israel won’t allow humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip

By News Agencies

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday there was “a little discomfort” in Gaza but Israel would not allow a humanitarian crisis to develop in the coastal Strip.

Israel launched a Gaza offensive after militants kidnapped Shalit a week ago. Gazans have been facing power cuts since an IAF air strike knocked out key transformers on Wednesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Olmert on Sunday for the first time since Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit’s kidnapping seven days ago. She told Olmert she is concerned by the deterioration of the security situation and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza. I want them to know what its like,” Olmert told the Cabinet.

“I told the UN Secretary-General (Kofi Annan): ‘True it’s not comfortable for Palestinians to be without electricity,'” an official quoted Olmert as also telling the cabinet.

“But nobody has died of a lack of electricity. There is a little discomfort, so what? We won’t create a humanitarian crisis,” he said.

Hospitals in Gaza were supplied with electricity by generators, he said.

Israel opens Karni crossing
Israel opened its main cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday to allow food and medical supplies to be sent in from Israel, the Defense Ministry said, after a Palestinian militant attack and subsequent IDF incursion into the impoverished area led to the passage’s closure.

The Karni crossing was expected to be open six hours each day for four days, said a director at the passage, Yoni Dotan. The Israeli Defense Ministry, which oversees the crossings, said 150 trucks would cross each day.

Trucks crossing into Karni carried mostly medical supplies, food and fuel, Dotan said. Fuel was also crossing at the nearby passage of Nahal Oz, Dotan said.

While food shortages have not been reported, human rights groups have warned that Gaza could face a humanitarian crisis because about 43 percent of the territory’s electricity supply has been knocked out after Israel hit a power station in an air strike last Tuesday.

Israel has increased its supply of electricity to Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday. The fuel supply was also dwindling in Gaza, since Israel cut off the flow through a pipeline.

THIS is the REALITY of the situation…. NOT included in the HaAretz report;

*Gaza has been completely sealed off from the outside world for people and goods, including basic humanitarian supplies such as food and medicine;

*The main power station in Gaza, a private civilian facility, was destroyed by an Israeli missile attack – this has resulted in 80% of the population being denied electricity. Electricity is also essential for powering water pumps and sanitation facilities. The power station will take six months to repair;

*The three main bridges in Gaza, connecting the north and the south of the Strip, were destroyed by further Israeli missile attacks. Consequently, the north and south of Gaza have been isolated from each other in a fashion reminiscent of Israel’s policy throughout the al Aqsa intifada;

*Israeli warplanes (F16s) and Apache Helicopter gunships are constantly in the skies over Gaza and have been carrying out bombardment of the densely populated civilian areas, including using one tonne bombs;

*F16s have been flying low and breaking the sound barrier over Gaza, causing “sonic booms” that are as loud as actual bombardments. These sonic booms have caused widespread terror among the population, particularly among children, the infirm and the elderly. The timing of the sonic booms has been designed to terrorise the general population;

*200 – 300 artillery shells per day are being pounded into the northern part of the Gaza Strip, many of them as little as 200 metres away from the homes of Palestinian civilian families;

*Most of the HAMAS leadership in the West Bank has been detained, including eight government ministers and twenty-five members of the Palestinian Legislative Council;

*Due to the siege imposed on Gaza it will run out of the depleted emergency supplies of fuel within days. This means that hospitals, water supplies, and sewage treatment will all be affected as emergency power generators grind to a halt. This will cause a further deepening of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation.

And THIS just in from AlJazeera….

Lie after lie after lie…. it’s time for it to END NOW!