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Olmert: Let them eat gas. (Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff January 21, 2008 |
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Israel won't allow a humanitarian crisis to develop in Gaza but has no intention of making Gazans' lives easier as long as rocket and mortar fire continues to pummel Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Kadima party colleagues Monday. "We will not let the residents of Gaza lead a comfortable and pleasant life" while the residents of Sderot walk around in fear.
"We won't allow a situation in which people in Sderot walk around in fear day and night, while Gazans lead a completely normal life," Olmert told faction members. "We won't allow for a humanitarian crisis, but have no intention of making their lives easier. And the harder their lives, excluding humanitarian damage, we will not allow them to lead a pleasant life.
"As far as I am concerned, all of Gaza's residents can walk and have no fuel for their cars, as they live under a murderous regime."
The prime minister complimented Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the IDF, saying he was "full of appreciation" for their activities. Olmert and Barak had been bickering over various issues as the date of the release of the Winograd Commission report approaches.
Olmert said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had called on him to halt the strikes on Gaza and lift the siege imposed on the Strip. "I had a friendly and serious conversation with the Egyptian president," he told the Kadima faction members, telling visiting Dutch minister Verhagen that Hamas was "aggravating the crisis in Gaza in order to direct international pressure at Israel."
The prime minister also told his Dutch guest that Israel was under "daily terror attacks from the Gaza Strip, with 75% of the children in the Gaza vicinity communities suffering from anxiety." Olmert said: "The Palestinians even attacked the Rothenberg Power Station in Ashkelon, which supplies their electricity.
Human rights organizations Adalah and Gisha petitioned the High Court of Justice demanding an emergency injunction renewing the supply of gas to Gaza and to allow the opening of its crossings. The Defense Minister shut down the crossing on Friday as rocket attacks continued unabated. According to the petitioners, "Gaza is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis which must be relieved immediately." |
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