EGYPT ADDS VOICE TO GAZA OUTCRY !

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has telephoned the Israeli prime minister to warn him of the humanitarian effects of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. In the call, Mr Mubarak "stressed the need to stop the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people", the official Mena news agency reported. The Arab League is holding an emergency session and the EU has condemned the "collective punishment" in Gaza.

The territory went dark on Sunday when the only power plant was shut down. Factory managers said they had no fuel left after Israel cut off supplies of some types of fuel and closed border crossings to Gaza on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insists he will not allow Gaza to suffer a humanitarian crisis but equally will not allow the lives of its 1.5m inhabitants to be "pleasant and comfortable". Israel, which is still providing 60% of Gaza's power, says if Hamas stops rocket attacks on Israel, the situation will return to normal.

On Monday morning residents awoke to closed petrol stations and shuttered bakeries unable to bake bread - a staple food in Gaza. Generators are being used to maintain critical power supplies to hospitals but there are fears that supplies of diesel could soon run out.

Egypt supplies some 8% of electricity to Gaza, and on Monday President Mubarak telephoned Prime Minister Olmert to warn him about the "deteriorating humanitarian situation resulting from the blockade", Mena reported. Mr Mubarak also raised the possibility of reopening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Israel insists should remain closed.


GAZA'S ELECTRICITY SOURCES

Gaza uses 200 megawatts of electricity
Israel supplies 60% of this, and Egypt 8%
The remaining 32% is produced by Gaza's power station
Israel supplies the fuel oil for the Gaza power station

His phone call followed an appeal for international action from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and a direct plea to Egyptian ministers from Hamas's exiled political leader, Khalid Meshaal. However, Mr Olmert stood firm in comments following his conversation with Mr Mubarak. He said he would "not allow" a humanitarian crisis, but insisted the Israeli action was limited to cutting fuel supplies for vehicles. "As far as I'm concerned, all the residents of Gaza can walk and have no fuel for their cars, because they have a murderous terrorist regime that doesn't allow people in the south of Israel to live in peace," he said.

Earlier, an Israeli official accused Hamas of closing the power plant as a "ploy to attract international sympathy". However, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees told AFP news agency it would be forced to halt food aid to hundreds of thousands of Gazans within days if the blockade continued.

Israel's actions have also prompted protests from the European Union and neighbouring Arab states. "I have made clear that I am against this collective punishment of the people of Gaza," said the EU's external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, in a statement. She urged Israeli authorities to restart fuel supplies to the territory, and to reopen border crossings for both humanitarian and commercial supplies. She said neither the Israeli blockade nor air strikes on Gaza would prevent rocket attacks, but only a "credible political agreement".

EU-funded fuel for the Gaza power plant is being held at the Nahal Oz crossing, awaiting Israel's decision on resuming supplies, Reuters news agency reported. The Arab League is holding an emergency session to discuss the situation, but the BBC's Ian Pannell in Cairo says other than pushing for humanitarian relief it remains unclear what measures the group could take.

The most significant action would be to reopen the crossing into Egypt - but given the sensitivity of this area, it would probably prove too controversial a step for the Egyptian government, he says. More than 200 rockets and mortars have hit Israel from Gaza since an Israeli operation against militants on Tuesday that left 18 Palestinians dead, the military says.

After decades of occupation, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but it still controls the territory's borders and supplies. Hamas - branded a terrorist organisation by the Israel, the US and the EU - has been in charge of Gaza since June, when it drove out rivals Fatah.
BBC NEWS REPORT.