Following recent rocket attacks the Israeli President has admitted that his government is considering measures to dramatically reduce power fed to the Gaza strip in order to bring the attacks to a halt.

Ehud Barak will meet with officials later today (Thursday) in order to finalise proposals for the temporary cuts to come into place. Israel supplies roughly 60% of Gaza’s electricity requirements, so any reduction will have a substantial effect on the 1.5million Gazans.

Last month Israel declared Gaza to be a hostile entity, a measure that was taken to place Gaza outside of the definition of an occupied territory and thus exempt it from the responsibilities that, under international law, apply to all occupying forces, responsibilities which include the provision of utilities to the civilian population.

However in the opinion of the international community, Israel remains legally responsible for Gaza because despite withdrawing two years ago it still controls Gaza’s borders, airspace and territorial waters.

While Mr Barak has the power to implement these sanctions, he may consider it politically expedient to seek the approval of his Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Olmert, as well as the security cabinet.

Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said that Israel would dramatically reduce the power that it supplied to Gaza over a period of several weeks. He said he hoped that this gradual reduction would encourage Gazans to provide their own electricity and become less dependent on Israel.

Israel provides around 120 megawatts of the 200 megawatts annually used by Gaza, with 17 megawatts coming from Egypt and a further 65 megawatts from an internal power plant.

The UN has previously warned Israel that it must not inflict collective punishment on Gaza’s civilian population by cutting vital supplies and services.

by Matthew Simms