Today, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking to reinstate the flow of electricity to the Gaza Strip.
Justice Alex Stein, writing on behalf of the court, stated, “From a legal perspective, it is clear that the State of Israel is not obliged to provide electricity to the Gaza Strip, for money or for free.”
He further elaborated: “Israel does not have legal sovereignty over the Strip,” and added, “our enemies, who claim sovereignty over the territory of the Strip, have launched a brutal war against us, partly fueled by electricity, which has claimed many victims among us.”
“The supply of electricity to the Strip is entirely at the discretion of the government. In my opinion, the manner in which such discretion is exercised is inherently non-justiciable.” Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg echoed this view, commenting, “It is doubtful whether the issue is justiciable; the very discussion of the petition creates the impression that it is justiciable.”
The legal proceedings followed a directive issued last month by Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who signed an order cutting off electricity to Gaza with immediate effect.
Before the implementation of Cohen’s order, Israel had only been supplying electricity to a desalination facility located in central Gaza.
{Matzav.com}