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Palestinians line up at a gas
station in Gaza to get fuel, which has been running out in the
strip over the ongoing Israeli offensive.
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OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israeli human rights groups
on Tuesday, July 11, filed a petition with the high court of justice
demanding the reopening of Israel-controlled crossings to allow fuel,
food and equipment supplies for the Palestinians.
This comes as the Palestinian health ministry said
that the Israeli army was using new type of banned chemical explosives
in its offensive against the Palestinians.
"Withholding fuel, food, and equipment from
Gaza residents constitutes collective punishment, in violation of
international law," said Shabtai Gold, spokesman for Physicians
for Human Rights-Israel, one of the groups which filed the petition,
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
Gaza's main crossings have been closed down since
Israel launched its almost two-week offensive in Gaza on the pretext
of seeking the release of an Israeli soldier taken prisoner by
Palestinian groups.
The Israeli closure has exacerbated the
humanitarian crisis in the strip, with fuel is about to run out.
In their petition, the six Israeli groups demanded
a reopening of the crossings to "to prevent serious harm to the
health of the civilian population."
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has said
Gaza is "on the brink of a public health disaster" since
Israel bombed Gaza's sole power plant on June 28.
The European Commission announced Tuesday that it
was sending emergency fuel supplies to Gaza through an international
mechanism set up to meet the basic needs of Palestinians, the first
aid to flow in such a manner.
Protect Civilians
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A 6-year-old Palestinian child is
being carried to the Shifa hospital after an Israeli shell hit
their house.
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The groups urged the Israeli army to spare
civilians the scourge of war.
"Israel is not fulfilling its legal
obligations to provide for the needs of the civilian population and to
distinguish between military and civilian targets," they said.
"Israel is required, both by international law
and by Israeli law, to discern at all times between military and
civilian targets, to avoid attacking obvious civilian targets such as
power stations, and to participate actively in supplying the basic
needs of the civilian population," the groups said.
"Even if the damage to the civilian population
serves some legitimate purpose, it doesn't pass the quantitative test,
and thus it is also illegal," they added.
Early July, several hundred Israelis protests
against the deadly open-ended Israeli offensive against Gaza, which
Israel says it has launched to release a soldier taken prisoner by
Palestinian factions.
They gathered outside Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's
home carrying signs reading "No to attacks on civilians" and
"No military solution."
The Israeli protestors called for dialogue with the
Hamas-led government in order to secure the release of the conscript.
Banned Weapons
The Palestinian health ministry, meanwhile, said
Israel has used new chemical explosives in its onslaught against the
Palestinians.
It said the Israeli explosives contain toxics and
radioactive materials which burn and totally tear the victim's body.
"Even bodies of the injured have been almost
completely burnt. They have been deformed in a very ugly way that we
have never seen before," Dr. al-Saqqa of the Shifa hospital told
the Doha-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel.
Some 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since
Israeli launched its wide-scale onslaught in the territory.
The health ministry said doctors have been forced
to amputate limbs of at least 12 injured Palestinians as a result of
injuries they sustained in the Israeli offensive.
Saqaa, who heads the hospital's emergency service,
said relatives had been unable to identify the dead victims.
"When we try to X-ray dead bodies, we find no
trace of the shrapnel that hit the person killed," he said,
adding that the bodies seemed to have been chemically burnt.
"We are sure that Israel is using a new
chemical or radioactive weapon in the new operation. More than
25% of the injured are children, aged under 16."
The Palestinian health ministry called on the
international community and rights organizations to send an
international medical convoy to examine the victims' bodies.
