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Israeli decision to halt W. Bank power jeopardizes lives - health ministry

RAMALLAH, Sept 21 (KUNA) -- Palestinian Minister of Health Mai Al-Keila cautioned against the consequences of the Israeli decision to cut power off in three governorates in the occupied West Bank.
"The deliberate power outage puts the lives of scores of patients in peril as it risks spoiling the medicines and vaccines kept in the fridges of hospitals and homes," she said in a press release on Saturday evening.
"Besides, the serious Israeli move jeopardizes the public health in the West Bank since it affects the safety of a lot of foodstuffs that need to be kept in fridges or freezers," the minister pointed out.
Dr. Al-Keila blasted the move as tantamount to a crime of collective punishment against the Palestinian people, noting that Israel heed to neither international laws nor conventions. She held the Israeli occupation authority responsible for the safety of the lives of Palestinian patients, calling on the international community to force the Israeli authorities into backing down on their policy of collective punishment.
Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), which accounts for 90 percent of the power supplies to the occupied Palestinian territories, has decided, with consent of the government, to cut power of Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem due to the alleged arrears of the private Jerusalem District Electricity Company LTD (JDECO).
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