Its Mighty White of Them

This is going to be used in their PR defense some day, "See? We let in bottled water......sometimes....when its not a security threat." Israel will allow bottled water into Gaza, but not until March. The rest of the humanitarian abuses continue to be the total responsibility of Israel and its policies.

Gaza – Ma'an – Israeli authorities agreed to allow the transfer of bottled mineral water into the Gaza Strip, beginning next month, according to Palestinian border crossings official Raed Fattouh.

Since 2006, bottled mineral water has not been permitted into the Strip by Israeli authorities. The small relaxation of import regulations follows several months on the okay to import water purification devices for home use.

Even before the siege and the Israeli war on Gaza, water resources in the area were limited, with most underground wells contaminated by salt water, and limited access to the sole aquifer. In September 2009, the Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility issued a report saying that unless urgent action is taken, the supply of water "fit for human use in the Gaza Strip will be depleted in 5-10 years."

The import of drinking water, now still and sparkling, will improve the available resources for residents faced with access difficulties, and help guarantee water reserves when pumps and desalinization equipment break.

Crossings closed Friday

Gazans will have to wait until March to see any mineral water, and until Sunday to see any goods at all, as Israeli authorities announced the closure of all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Friday, finishing off a slow week at the crossings, where below minimum levels of supplies were permitted into the Strip.

A report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a report Thursday, saying the below minimum levels of industrial fuel and cooking gas allowed into the strip has seen the "electricity crisis continue, as power supply has been further reduced, and remains precarious. Cooking gas rationing continues and limited shipments of exports and entry of glass continue." Source

ANOTHER FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

ANOTHER FLAGRANT VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

Israel is again being condemned, this time by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for AGAIN refusing medical aid into the occupied territory IT controls.

Israeli authorities have refused to allow medical equipment worth $800,000 to be transferred to the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported on Friday.

The news agency quoted a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying Israel had prevented, for the fourth time, the transfer of medical equipment to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, even though WHO had provided the required permit.http://en.rian.ru/world/20091030/156649969.html

Perhaps Israel needs to be acquainted with the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Conventions of 1907;

The Fourth Geneva Convention (or GCIV) relates to the protection of civilians during times of war "in the hands" of an enemy and under any military occupation by a foreign power.

Collective punishments
Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

Section III. Occupied territories
Articles 47-78 impose substantial obligations on occupying powers
Section I. Provisions common to the territories of the parties to the conflict and to occupied territories

Article 32. A protected person/s shall not have anything done to them of such a character as to cause physical suffering or extermination ... the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands