Comment by jjcon
1 year ago
Goalpost moving aside, that statement is definitively untrue.
For one, Israel does not control the Gaza border with Egypt (which shocker... Egypt does). Israel has provided a ton of humanitarian aid to Gaza over the years including water and electricity but they do not control their water or electricity (kinda hard to do that or even claim that is being done since they don't have a presence in the country).
>Israel does not control the Gaza border with Egypt.
You're correct. But Palestine has no Egyptian consulate, so Palestinians are not able to secure a Visa of any kind to travel to Egypt. Israel does have an Egyptian consulate though, but Palestinians need permission from Israel to enter.
>Israel has provided...water and electricity but they do not control their water or electricity.
The Coastal Aquifer is the only groundwater source of water in the Gaza Strip. Gaza is at the end of the basin, however, Israel has built multiple deep wells and, essentially, extracts all water from the aquifer before it reaches Gaza's border. Israel then sells that water to Gaza. As well, Israel does not allow the West Bank to transport water to Gaza.
While Israel does not entirely control electricity within Gaza, Israel does supply Gaza with around 20% or so of their power and restricts fuel entry into Gaza which powers Gaza's only power station. At the start of this recent war, Israel has turned off their supply of power to Gaza and has not allowed fuel to be delivered to Gaza. Effectively turning off all power in Gaza. What power remains is usually through generators or solar power.
While the actions Israel has taken regarding power supplies to Gaza can be taken as a military decision to cut power to Hamas, we cannot overlook how this affects the 2 million civilians that also live in Gaza who have no say in this war.
It's not goalpost moving at all. Ask the UN Special Rapporteur:
> https://www.jurist.org/features/2023/09/06/un-special-rappor...
> they do not control their water or electricity (kinda hard to do that or even claim that is being done since they don't have a presence in the country).
This is a stunningly false statement. I honestly don't know how anyone could believe it.
I guess you are just ignorant of the facts then. Israel only provides a portion as part of their humanitarian aid (but it isn't their responsibility to power Gaza.. just as no country is held responsible for anothers electricity?). I'd start with this wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_electricity_crisis
You’re right, it isn’t Israel’s responsibility to power Gaza. But then why does Israel restrict and control Gaza’s import of fuel for their only power plant?
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t claim Israel is providing humanitarian aid while it is also restricting their ability to find solutions that no longer require their aid.