Israel allows Gaza fuel deliveries

Israel lifted its blockade of Gaza partially today allowing in enough fuel to generate electricity for the next two days.

Trucks at the Nahal Oz crossing on the border were also delivering cooking gas and medical supplies.

Israel has promised three fuel deliveries over three days, enough to keep Gaza City’s power plant running for a week, said Kanan Obeid, head of Gaza’s energy authority.

Israel shut border crossings last Thursday, after a series of rocket attacks from the Hamas-run territory.

Three days later Gaza’s only power plant, which provides electricity to about one-third of the area’s 1.5 million residents, shut down. Other areas of Gaza are supplied directly by Israel and Egypt, neither of which cut off service.

Yesterday after Hamas and aid agencies warned of an impending humanitarian crisis, Israel decided to ease the blockade.

“We think Hamas got the message,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said.

“As we have seen in the past couple of days, when they want to stop the rockets, they can.”

However, three rockets were fired into Israel early today, causing no injuries.

Mr Mekel said enough fuel would be sent to power the Gaza electric plant for a week, as well as fuel for hospital generators and cooking gas, along with 50 truckloads of humanitarian aid, including medicine.

A Hamas spokesman dismissed the decision saying: “This does not mean the end of the siege on Gaza,” he said, pledging to continue to fight “until we break the siege.”

And a spokesman for Gaza’s petrol station owners, said the group would reject a planned Israeli shipment of 70,000 litres of fuel for cars as insufficient.

Raising a possible solution, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered to take control of the Gaza crossings from the Palestinian side. One of the reasons Israel closed the crossings was its refusal to deal with Hamas officials in Gaza.

If implemented, it would give Mr Abbas his first foothold in Gaza since Hamas ran his forces out in June.

Meanwhile Israel maintained a tough stance over the rocket attacks. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said he was prepared to hit Gaza to restore calm in attacked Israeli towns.

“I care more about our quiet than their quiet,” he said.