A human rights center founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has urged Israel to drop its consideration of cutting energy supplies in Gaza, the center said on Wednesday. The government of Israel on September 19, 2007 threatened to declare the Gaza Strip a “hostile territory” and cut off essential services such as electricity and fuel to the civilian population as retaliation for rocket attacks that were launched from the Strip into Israel, according to the Carter Center, which was formed by former President Carter. According to anonymous sources as reported by the Associated Press on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is set to announce that Israel will implement the plan beginning Thursday. The proposal is seen as the collective punishment of 1.4 million people for the actions of just a few people and such an action “would be contrary to Israel's obligations towards the civilian population under international humanitarian and human law,” said United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki Moon. The Carter Center condemns the “continued indiscriminate firing of rockets” from the Gaza Strip at civilians in Israel as a violation of international law, but the center is also opposed to Israel's proposal under the same terms, the center said. “The Carter Center understands and accepts Israel's right to defend its citizens and to take all lawful measures to stop the attacks,” but, “the deliberate Israeli policy to reduce the Palestinians to penury does not meet the standards required by international humanitarian and human rights of law of Israel as an occupying power,” the center said. The humanitarian implications of the Israeli proposal would be critical, as 60 percent of the electrical supply to the Gaza Strip is provided by Israel, and the electricity generated at Gaza's power plants relies on fuel supplied by Israeli companies, the center said.
