By Ori Lewis
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Friday it cut by lessthan 1 percent the amount of electrical power it supplies tothe Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip as part of a campaign againstmilitants who fire cross-border rockets.
It is the latest Israeli step to increase pressure on Gaza,ruled by the Hamas Islamists since June, and follows Hamas'sclaim of responsibility for Monday's suicide bombing insouthern Israel, the first claimed by the group since 2004.
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer saidHamas was "pushing us to take over the strip" but that hepreferred using "economic measures".
Shlomo Dror, spokesman for Defence Minister Ehud Barak,said Israel trimmed the flow of electricity overnight by 5percent on one of 10 high-power lines. The reduction amountedto less than 1 percent of the 124 megawatts that Israelsupplies to Gaza.
Israel said its goal in reducing the electricity supply wasto disconnect gradually from the coastal territory, which HamasIslamists seized by force after routing secular Fatah forcesloyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Dror said additional reductions could be made after furtherevaluation.
"This is a signal to the Palestinians that we see theirconduct in Gaza and that we want to continue the disengagementprocess. I hope they will focus their effort on getting newsources of energy instead of developing ... rockets," Drorsaid.
Israel temporarily halted fuel deliveries to Gaza's mainpower plant last month but quickly restored supplies afterfacing international criticism for blackouts in Gaza City.
The United Nations and some human rights groups havecriticised Israeli fuel and electricity cuts as "collectivepunishment" against Gaza's 1.5 million residents.
ELECTRICITY REDUCTIONS
Israel's deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, said Israelwas "trying to reduce the Gaza Strip's dependence on Israel inmany fields", and that the electricity reductions were backedby Israel's highest court.
Israel, which occupied the Gaza Strip in 1967, pulledtroops and settlers out in 2005 but still controls its northernand eastern borders, airspace and coastal waters.
Apart from Israel's 124 megawatts, a local power station inGaza City produces 64 megawatts and Egypt supplies 17megawatts, Israel's defence ministry said.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said he was notfamiliar with the Israeli decision.
"We understand Israel's right to defend itself, but we donot think that actions should be taken that would infringe uponor worsen the humanitarian situation for the civilianpopulation in Gaza," he added.
After Hamas blasted open Gaza's border with Egypt lastmonth in defiance of an Israeli blockade, Vilnai suggested thatIsrael should wash its hands of Gaza altogether by handing overthe supply of electricity, water and medicine to others.
Hamas has suggested that Gaza sever connections with Israeland turn to Egypt. That idea has drawn opposition from Abbas,who is seeking a unified Palestinian state in the West Bank andGaza Strip.
Egypt re-sealed the border with Gaza, which Israelconsiders an "enemy entity", on Sunday.
(Additional reporting Avida Landau; Editing by RobertWoodward)
