Gaza nears humanitarian crisis, UN aid chief warns

Jan Egeland

UNITED NATIONS - 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 today.

"They are heading for the abyss unless they get electricity and fuel restored," said Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Jan Egeland, who also urged the Palestinians to free the soldier and clamp down on militants firing rockets into Israel.

"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 per cent 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.

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.

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?"

- REUTERS