By Xinhua
Gaza : The Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday received five fuel tankers, which temporarily eased a humanitarian crisis emerging after five days of crossing closure by Israel.
Four of the tankers were loaded with diesel to go to Gaza’s sole power station and the fifth carried cooking gas, Gaza officials said, adding that the four tanks of fuel could barely keep the power plant working for less than one week.
The lack of fuel had forced Gaza’s only power plant to shut down on Sunday, leaving the Hamas-run enclave dependant on some 140 megawatts of electricity that Israel and Egypt provide.
The Gaza Strip, home to about 1.5 million residents, needs at least 220 megawatts, according to officials at the Gaza power generating company.
But the five tanks of fuel, which came into the Strip via the Nahal Ozz crossing in the east of Gaza City, didn’t include gasoline for Gaza’s vehicles.
Gaza officials slammed Israel’s move, saying that the crisis still remained unresolved as long as a regular amount of fuel is withheld by the Israeli authorities.
“Banning the gasoline was a trick going against the international law and it is an Israeli attempt to erase the scenes of crisis in Gaza,” said Mahmoud al-Khozendar, a representative of the union of Gaza service stations’ owners.
“There are patients who are in need for using cars … what is the law which prevents Gazans from using the cars?” al-Khozendar asked.
The shipment of fuel came right after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided on Monday evening to slightly ease the siege on Gaza and to allow medical supplies and a minimal amount of diesel fuel for the power plant in Gaza.
Barak made the decision following a security assessment made on Monday evening, the English daily Jerusalem Post reported on its website.
Israel on Thursday decided to tighten a siege that has been imposed on Gaza since mid-June last year, when Hamas took control of the coastal strip. All crossings leading to Gaza have been closed down.
Since Thursday, Israel has been barring fuels and basic food products from reaching the Gaza Strip, in retaliation to ongoing makeshift rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian militants from Gaza against Israel.
In addition, at least 37 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza on Tuesday.
The Gaza Strip heavily depends on outside aid inflow of almost everything, from basic foodstuffs to medicine.