By Xinhua
Jerusalem : Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday agreed to allow a one-time shipment of diesel fuel and medical supplies into the enclaved Gaza Strip, in mid of an Israeli-imposed closure leaving much of the coastal area without essential supplies, local Ha’aretz said.
The Defense Ministry was quoted as saying that Israel will allow shipment of diesel fuel for generators as well as gas used for cooking. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that restrictions would remain in place on petrol for cars.
The decision was reached on Monday evening after the United Nations said that it would need to suspend international food aid to Gaza residents if Israel’s closure continued. Gas stations and many bakeries closed, and health officials warned of an impending crisis in hospitals running low on generator fuel.
According to the report, following a briefing Barak held with senior government officials Monday evening, a source close to the defense minister said that since Israel implemented the closure, the barrages of Qassam rockets fired by militants has decreased.
Last week, southern Israel absorbed more than a hundred Qassam rockets fired from Gaza, but the weekend marked a significant drop in rocket attacks with only five on Sunday.
Gaza City’s power plant, which depends on fuel funded by the European Union, shut down its two working turbines Sunday, plunging much of Gaza City into darkness, after Israel last week closed border crossings to all goods, including humanitarian aid, due to intensive Qassam rocket attacks on the western Negev.
Arab countries, France and the European Union condemned the closure of the coastal territory and called on Israel to reopen Gaza crossings and renew fuel shipments.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged earlier on Monday that Israel would not allow the Gaza Strip to slide into a humanitarian crisis in the wake of the decision to halt fuel supplies over ongoing rocket fire on the Negev.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel sought to “maintain a reasonable humanitarian level” in the Gaza Strip while “waging a war against terrorism.”
“The Palestinian people need to understand that there will be no routine living or normal economic situation as long as Israeli citizens are unable to function normally,” she told reporters in Sderot.