MIDDLE EAST: Israel has tightened its siege on the Gaza Strip and moved troops into position for an offensive which Palestinians expected could begin overnight.
At 2am yesterday Israel bombed the Palestinian interior ministry for a second time, blasting a huge crater in the multi- storey building and taking out a wall in the building next door, wounding three people. A Hamas-affiliated school was also struck and two Palestinians were killed in an explosion for which Israel denied responsibility.
A sonic boom rocked the city just after dawn, breaking windows and roof tiles. Artillery shells exploded on the outskirts of the city, the Erez pedestrian crossing remained closed and six huge armoured bulldozers crossed into the strip.
Israel's security cabinet decided to broaden and extend the current offensive in response to Tuesday's firing of a rocket by Hamas fighters into the centre of the Israeli town of Ashkelon.
The committee authorised the army to move further into Beit Hanoun in the north and to cut the strip into three isolated sectors.
The Israeli army took control of the Karni goods crossing and the Nahal Oz fuel depot, shutting them down and declaring them closed military zones.
This action halted limited deliveries of flour, medical supplies and fuel which had been permitted over the past three days.
Speaking between emergency meetings, Majed Abu Ramadan, the mayor of Gaza City, said Gaza, a city of 600,000, hovers on the brink of catastrophe due to Israel's air strike on the electricity substation last week.
"Pumps are working below capacity at the 31 drinking water wells and sewage pumping stations because we cannot afford fuel. Water pumped through the network cannot reach consumers above street level due to lack of pressure.
"Some neighbourhoods receive several hours a day, others get nothing. Water has to be delivered to them by tankers. But there is no fuel. Sewage has seeped into the street in the Samer area because the generator had a mechanical failure. We had to clean up sewage with scarce fresh water," Abu Ramadan said.
Gaza's normal consumption of 2.5-3,000 litres of fuel a day has jumped to 21,000 litres, of which 11,000 litres are used to run the sewage treatment plant, which must be operated continuously or turned off. The additional cost of fuel is 80,000 shekels (€14,000) a day.
"We cannot pay. We have no money. The (Palestinian) Authority has no money and people cannot pay their taxes which provide 90 per cent of our revenue. The sewage treatment plant south of Gaza was shut down two days ago and the city's sewage is being dumped into the sea. Pollution is maximum," Abu Ramadan said.
Another source observed that prevailing currents carry Gaza's sewage northwards along the Israeli coast to Ashdod, and Tel Aviv.
Abu Ramadan, a physician, said that intestinal and stomach ailments have already begun to appear.
Azzam Shawa, the former minister of energy, said: "When Israel struck the transformers, it hit electricity, water and infrastructure."
The damage to the electricity plant, which supplies 60-65 per cent of Gaza's power, is not easy to repair. The substation consists of six large transformers each weighing 70 tonnes. When fitted, they normally remain for 20 years.
"We will have to build a whole new substation. The Swedish manufacturer could take six months to fill the order. Shipping could take a month and installation one- and-a-half months.
"We will have to bring a large crane and get Israel's permission to import the transformers," Mr Shawa said.
A Palestinian team from the ministry has been dispatched to Cairo to see if replacements can be found in Egypt.
The plant, which cost €125 million, is insured by a US government insurance company for €38 million. "This should cover the cost of replacing the transformers," Mr Shawa said. "But once we replace them, Israel can bomb them again."
The Israeli Electricity Company, which supplies 35-40 per cent of Gaza's needs, has distanced itself from the military strike and offered to upgrade the current medium voltage transmission line into a high voltage line.
But the Israeli firm is now asking €4 million instead of €2.7 million to complete the task for which the Palestinian Authority has already paid €1.3 million. "They sell the installation and electricity at high rates," Mr Shawa said.
There were abundant supplies of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, marrows, water melons and apples at the vegetable market at the town centre; clothing and shoe shops opened and sidewalk vendors laid out their goods. But few people were making purchases. "Gazans who have a little money are hoarding it in the banks," said a banker. They are postponing purchases of non-essentials. A doctor said they are also postponing medical and dental treatment.