This article was originally published by Maan News and is republished with permission.

The Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, wrote an urgent letter to Israel's defense minister, Amir Peretz, on Thursday, urging him to ensure that the Israeli military does not attack civilian targets in the Gaza Strip, particularly vital infrastructure such as water and electricity.

In a press release issued Friday, B'Tselem says that the letter was in response to calls by Israeli politicians - such as Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu - to cut off Gaza's water and electricity. B'Tselem reminds all parties that "intentionally harming civilian infrastructure constitutes prohibited collective punishment and could also constitute a war crime."

In its letter, B'Tselem reminded the minister that Israel bombed Gaza's only power plant last year. According to data collected by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), all six transformers at the power plant were destroyed in the Israeli air force attack last June. This "eliminated at a stroke 43% of Gaza’s total power capacity," OCHA recalls. As a result, most of Gaza’s 1.4 million population were left without electricity for up to 18 hours per day and without water for more than 20 hours per day.

What's more, B'Tselem reminds Peretz, "This act of vengeance did not stop the Qassam rocket fire."

Despite seven new transformers being installed in November 2006, there is still insufficient power capacity in Gaza, OCHA warned in a report earlier this week. Gazans are likely to suffer extended power outages this summer, OCHA warned, even without any further attacks on infrastructure.

B'Tselem adds that "Qassam rocket-fire by Palestinians into Israel is itself patently illegal and constitutes a war crime". However, the Israeli government "cannot compensate for its failure to protect residents of Sderot by intentionally causing suffering in Gaza."