On Tuesday 14 February 2012, the Gaza Strip’s electric power plant announced that it was ceasing operation because it had run out of fuel supplies.
 This shortfall is a result of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) continued suspension of delivery of industrial fuel and the simultaneous halt in the supply of fuel from the smuggling tunnels.
  The electricity cuts have exacerbated Gaza’s already-deteriorated humanitarian conditions and human rights situation.
 The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights condemns the Israeli siege on Gaza, which aims to keep the Strip on the edge of humanitarian catastrophe.
  The electricity cuts have an effect on the supply of food and medicine.
 Therefore, Al Mezan calls on the international community to ensure the necessary supply of industrial fuel.
 It also calls on the international community to work without delay for an end to the Israeli siege.
  According to Al Mezan’s field investigations, the interruption in the supply of industrial fuel has brought to a halt the operation of the only electrical power plant in Gaza, resulting in an electrical supply lasting only eight out of 24 hours.
 The plant needs between 350,000 and 400,000 liters of fuel daily.
 Due to the ongoing shortfall in the amount of fuel provided by the IOF and Israel’s imposition of restrictions and impediments on the entry of fuel, the Gazan government resorts to importation of fuel from Egypt via smuggling tunnels.
 These supplies help keep the electricity running.
 It is worth noting that, prior to the current crisis, the total duration of electricity cuts over the past year amounted to 2,300 hours.
  Al Mezan views the stoppage in the plant’s production of electricity with much concern.
 It also warns of the possibility of a real catastrophe if the problem is not solved and fuel is not provided.
 Electricity cuts have serious impacts on human rights and basic service sectors in Gaza.
 Stoppages affect medical services including dialysis centers, surgical operating rooms, intensive care units, blood banks, etc.
 In addition, electricity cuts have their effect on sewage treatment plants and residential water supplies.
 Municipalities pump water to homes at specific times, which are not coordinated with the hours of electrical supply.
 As a result, water may not reach houses for hours and sometimes days on end in some areas.
 This is a serious cause of suffering for people in Gaza, which could also have negative impacts on public sanitation and the environment.
  Electricity cuts also affect the education sector.
 Moreover, people living in high-rise buildings who use elevators, particularly children, medical patients, the elderly, and those with special needs, cannot go in and outside their homes.
 Palestinian economic is also affected by electricity cuts.
 Farmers, livestock and poultry dealers, and industrial and commercial facilities are all affected.
  Therefore, in light of the catastrophic humanitarian results of the electricity cuts in Gaza and their impact on the already-deteriorated human rights situation, particularly on economic, social, and cultural rights; the legal status of the Gaza Strip as an occupied territory; and the IOF’s legal obligations to ensure the good working order of medical and other necessary facilities, Al Mezan calls on the international community to promptly intervene to ensure the availability of adequate amounts of fuel.
 Al Mezan reiterates its previous calls on the international community to respect international law in the occupied Palestinian territory and to ensure that Israel respects the law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to Protection of Civilians in Time of War.
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