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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| UN aid chief warns that Gaza is nearing humanitarian crisis |
| 2006-06-29 |
| Gaza is three days away from a deadly humanitarian crisis unless Israel promptly restores fuel and electricity to the densely populated area after its offensive to free an abducted soldier, the UN aid chief warned on Thursday. "They are heading for the abyss unless they get electricity and fuel restored," said Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, who also urged the Palestinians to free the soldier and clamp down on militants firing rockets into Israel. Without clean water in the hot summer weather, "we would in days see a major humanitarian crisis," he said. Military action targeting innocent civilians violates international humanitarian law, he added. "I am confident that neither of the two want to see a massive increase in mortality in the Gaza," where children make up about half of the area's 1.4 million people, Egeland told a small group of reporters. At the heart of the crisis, he said, was Israel's bombing of Gaza's sole power plant, which supplies about 40 percent of the area's electricity. The remaining power comes from Israel. An estimated 130 Gaza wells require electricity to pump water, and while some have backup pumps that run on diesel fuel, Israel has allowed no fuel to flow into Gaza for four days, leaving it dependent on emergency supplies expected to last another three days. So 3-4 days and the diesel runs out then 3-4 more to start dying of thirst. Egeland, who as Norway's deputy foreign minister helped orchestrate secret 1992 talks between Israel and the Palestinians that led to the Oslo accords, lamented that both sides in the conflict appeared intent on perpetuating an endless cycle of violence. "They are locked in a situation where they do their utmost to cut the bridges between them and create hatred that bodes ill for the future," he said. "Why do they do things that are so counter to their own interests?" |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #17 As for the software feature of civilization, the electricity will be restored when you reach our century and pay our bills. Your TR# (trouble ticket item number) is 960,054,326 Please be nice to my tech support. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-06-29 23:59 |
| #16 Do I know you, UN? Cannot Palestinians themselves build a society? That could only confirm a soverign state. You have no right to demand that we give money for nothing and the bombings for free. Someone wake up before the lightening strikes. No one owes the Palestinians anything. They should know where to turn but they do not. Oh Well. Good faith was pulling out of Gaza, knowing full well what would happen. There is no negoitaion NOW. Israel is a soverign nation. End of argument. |
| Posted by: newc 2006-06-29 23:52 |
| #15 #14 - no, those tunnels are reserved for arms and ammo shipments. They may not be used for food, medicine, fuel, water or other luxuries. /sarcasm |
| Posted by: Rambler 2006-06-29 23:00 |
| #14 The can get the fuel from Egypt - use the tunnels. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-06-29 22:55 |
| #13 Mohammed had neither electricity nor fuel - they want to live in the 7th century, let them. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-06-29 22:54 |
| #12 *yawwwwnnnn* My heart f**king bleeds. My sympathy meter for the Palestinians blew a fuse a couple of years ago, never got it to move past "don't give a c**p". Oh, yeah, NPR was walloping away this evening, with a long pathetic story from Gaza on how we really, really, really should care. Next time they have a fund drive, I think I'll ask for a refund... |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2006-06-29 22:09 |
| #11 Funny, I've never heard anyone refer to the caliphate life-style as an "abyss" before. As always, it's a case of be very careful of what you ask for ... Even in light of how the Arab culture, as a whole, remains almost entirely uncontaminated by the slightest perception of Cause & Effect, the Palestinians manage to somehow make the rest of the Arabs look like regular Einsteins. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-06-29 20:58 |
| #10 "They are heading for the abyss" I think we finally found the address to the "abyss" today: Try....One First Street N.E. Washington, DC 20543 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-06-29 20:29 |
| #9 Think they'll send us a postcard when they get there? I've always wondered what the abyss was like. |
| Posted by: Crolump Glereper5426 2006-06-29 20:24 |
| #8 "They are heading for the abyss unless they get electricity and fuel restored" That's not a bug, that's a feature. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-06-29 20:19 |
| #7 Egeland is a idiot. He still thinks that both sides are the same - that they are both equally responsible for the failure of the 'peace process' and 'osolo accords'. Who percepted this by performing an outright act of war? The Palistinian Government. Who killed the so-called 'Osolo Accords'? Hamas (who is now the Palieo Government). Who has bent over backwards. Made consessions after consessions? Not Ham-Ass or the Palieo! Israel. Who has kept their side of the accords in good faith even as the other side has broken their agreements time after time after time? Not Ham-Ass or the Paleos! Israel. Who deliberately targets and murders innocent civilians in cold blood? And has done so for decades? Hamas and the Palistinians. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-06-29 20:09 |
| #6 "They are heading for the abyss unless they get electricity and fuel restored..." Mr. Egeland should realize that this is a feature, not a bug, of Palestinian behavior and policies. Every time the Paleos f!ck up, the UN wants to bail them out. It is like their showcase project. 50 years plus of pure failure. Too late, Egeland, the world sympathy meter is bouncing off zero. Maybe the EUniks want to throw more money and resources down the rathole. Hell, even the Arabs know that this is a dead skunk in the middle of the road. Too late. The Paleos sh!t in their messkit and now they have to clean it up themselves. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-06-29 19:43 |
| #5 UN aid chief warns that Gaza is nearing humanitarian crisis... of their own making. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2006-06-29 19:37 |
| #4 I love watching Jan Egeland sputter and pontificate. :) |
| Posted by: Crolump Glereper5426 2006-06-29 19:26 |
| #3 Three days? Let's put them on a countdown clock... Maybe they should open a factory that produces "cycles of violence"? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-06-29 19:17 |
| #2 Do you think they should have thought of that before they started nabbing people, Jan? By the way, targeting innocent civilians is what they do all the time. It's why we call them terrorists. But it's not what the Israelis have done. That's why there are still live Paleostinians. "Why do they do things that are so counter to their own interests?" They're Paleostinians. It's what they do best. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-06-29 19:11 |
| #1 They are heading for the abyss Watch that first step. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-29 19:02 |