Israel to resume fuel shipments to Gaza after two-day suspension - Haaretz

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Sun., August 19, 2007 Elul 5, 5767

Israel Time: 02:16 (EST+7)

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Israel to resume fuel shipments to Gaza after two-day suspension

By Yoav Stern and Yuval Azoulay

Israel is expected to resume fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip this morning following a two-day suspension. As a result of the halt in shipments through the Nahal Oz crossing, which began on Thursday, the Gaza Generating Company was forced to reduce power production by 50 percent. That, in turn, caused frequent electricity outages throughout the Gaza Strip during the weekend.

Palestinian Information Minister Riyad al-Maliki told Haaretz yesterday that the Palestinian Authority held intensive negotiations with the Israel Defense Forces and with Dor Alon Energy, following which Israel promised to resume fuel shipments this morning. "We hope that at 8 A.M. the fuel tanks in the Strip will be full and residents will once again receive a regular supply of electricity," Maliki said.

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The Palestinian electric company is controlled by Hamas, which forced company executives out after the movement's takeover of the territory. Fuel shipments from Israel were not halted, however, as part of Israel's commitment to maintaining humanitarian services.

The closure of the Nahal Oz crossing followed specific terror warnings in the area. Sources at the IDF Coordination and Liaison (IFCL) offices at the Erez border crossing said yesterday that the Palestinians did not raise the possibility that the closure could effect electricity generation until Friday afternoon.

According to Israeli military sources, following Palestinian pressure, the IFCL asked Gaza Division commander Brig.-Gen. Moshe Tamir to allow in enough fuel to keep the power plant running through the weekend. Tamir agreed to allow diesel fuel to be brought in, but Dor Alon announced that its employees do not work on Shabbat. "We find it hard to understand why the Palestinians came to us so late, on Friday afternoon," a military source said yesterday.

IFCL officials said they were unaware of any hardships to Gazans as a result of the closure, since the local power plant supplies only 25 percent of the electricity used in the Gaza Strip, with the remainder supplied by Israel (60 percent) and Egypt. "Gaza did not suffer a black-out, and there was no disaster," one IFCL official claimed.

Fuel shipments are to resume this morning, but since terrorism warnings are still in effect, the details of the shipments remain unclear. Army sources emphasized that terror groups are constantly attempting to carry out attacks at one of the crossing points, near the border fence or in one of the nearby Israeli communities.

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