Jerusalem – Israeli leaders ruled out a large-scale military response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip but threatened Wednesday to cut off electricity or other vital supplies to the impoverished area if militants keep up attacks.
Pictures of panicked Israeli children and parents running for cover as the school year began in the battered town of Sderot have dominated news in Israel this week. The government has been forced to address growing anger and frustration over the inability of the high-tech military to counter the crude Palestinian weapons.
Israeli media quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak as saying the need for a large operation in Gaza is approaching. But the security cabinet, made up of senior ministers, rejected an all-out offensive to move Israeli communities out of range by taking control of the areas where militants fire rockets.
The Israeli leadership said that for now it ordered an examination of options “to hit the services that supply the Gaza Strip from the state of Israel.”
Gaza, which was taken over by Hamas militants in June, remains dependent on Israel for much of its electricity, fuel and water.
Sari Bashi, director of the Israeli human rights group Gisha, said halting vital services to Gaza amounted to illegal collective punishment.
“Deliberately targeting civilians, in Gaza or Sderot, is neither legal nor moral,” she said.
Such a move would be Israel’s first embargo of vital supplies to Gaza, although a private Israel company has briefly cut off fuel oil and gasoline over financial disputes.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said his group is “looking with great concern at this serious and dangerous Israeli threat.” The security cabinet also pledged to continue smaller-scale strikes at rocket squads and launchers.
The crisis over the Gaza rocket attacks overshadowed Tony Blair’s first efforts in his new role as representative of the “Quartet” of Middle East mediators. The former British prime minister is expected to be in the area for about 10 days before reporting at the end of the month to the Quartet, – the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
