Via The Guardian:
The UN is to halt food handouts for up to 800,000 Palestinians from tomorrow because of a severe fuel shortage in Gaza brought on by an Israeli economic blockade.
John Ging, the director of operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports Palestinian refugees, said there had been a "totally inadequate" supply of fuel from Israel to Gaza for 10 months until it was finally halted two weeks ago. "The devastating humanitarian impact is entirely predictable," he said.
A shortage of diesel and petrol means UN food assistance to 650,000 Palestinian refugees will stop tomorrow, and aid from the World Food Programme for another 127,000 Palestinians due in the coming days will also be halted.
And of course, this collective punishment of the Palestinian people on the part of Israel is completely illegal under international law, not to mention that the entire logic behind the blockade is a tad off. By not feeding bellies, Israel is inevitably feeding Hamas' ranks with thousands of hungry, angry new supporters. A quote taken from a Palestinian makes this clear:
For nearly three weeks, the fuel distributors have effectively been on strike in protest at the shortages. "We ask Israel to declare they will send the right amount of fuel into Gaza that is necessary for our needs," said Mahmoud Khazendar, vice-president of the distributors' association. "If they want to punish Hamas then OK, but not 1.5 million people."
Violence doesn't justify more violence, especially when it's being committed against many for the deeds of a few. Where is the moral authority in that?
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