Tough times in Gaza: No gas, Coke or cigarettes - Haaretz

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Tue., December 04, 2007 Kislev 24, 5768

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Last update - 23:18 03/12/2007

Tough times in Gaza: No gas, Coke or cigarettes

By Avi Issacharoff

Tags: Gaza, Hamas, Egypt, Israel

Abu Adib, a Gazan businessmen, has been looking for diesel fuel for his jeep since Thursday. Gas stations in the Gaza Strip, of which there are some 145, have closed one after the other, in recent days. At the few stations that remain open, the line of customers is long and there are no guarantees that by the time they reach the pump, there will still be any fuel.

Abu Adib's friend Mohammed told him yesterday that he knows the owners of the gas station at Dir al-Balah, in the central Strip, and that they might still have some diesel. They called and the man promised to save them some. Several hours later Abu Adib was one of a handful of lucky drivers who managed to fill up their tanks.

The current gas and diesel shortage in Gaza, which has resulted in the closure of nearly 70 percent of all stations there, is not, however, the result of the Israeli government's decision to cut fuel supplies to the Hamas-controlled Strip. Months ago the defense establishment cut the gasoline supply to the Strip by 12 percent, and diesel by 5 percent. It turns out that unpaid bills to Dor Energy - the Israeli fuel supplier - is what has led to the current, drastic situation.

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According to the Association of Gas Stations in Gaza, Dor Energy has cut its fuel supply by nearly 75 percent in recent days. Yesterday, the association informed the Palestinians that they would not accept any more fuel from Israel - in protest. This only made the situation in terms of gasoline and diesel supply even worse for Gaza residents.

Abu Adib's friend, Abu Amir, has opted simply not to drive. He is keeping the little fuel he has in his car for emergencies.

"You can never tell what will happen, whether we will need to get to the hospital or somewhere else. For now it is best to save what we have in the tank," he said.

It seems that, compared to other problems, the lack of fuel is not so serious for Abu Amir. Aged 34 and a father of five, he owns a clothing shop in Gaza City. Despite its success, however, in recent months he has had no livelihood.

During the most bitter years of fighting, he says he used to sell clothes of the Israeli brand Fox at his shop. However, since Hamas has taken over the Strip, all the border crossings have been closed and the transfer of goods has stopped. Abu Amir has no inventory to sell: Israel is preventing the transfer of nearly all goods that are not essential items, and for the past six months his shop has been empty.

"A few days before the takeover [June 2007] I paid for an order of clothes that was expected two weeks later," he told Haaretz.

"Several days later the crossings closed down. I waited a month, two months; we thought that any day they would open. To date I am stuck with the leftovers of the summer inventory and I have nothing to sell for winter. No one wants to buy summer clothes now. I open [the shop] in the morning and close in the evening, without selling a single shirt, each day."

"I would be glad to leave the Gaza Strip forever," he adds. "But the Israelis are not allowing us to leave, and then, where would I go? My older daughter is 16. I don't have enough money to open a business abroad. How will I support my family without a home?"

Hardship in Gaza is evident in every aspect of life today. Hundreds of small businesses, like woodworking and furniture shops, have closed because no wood is being allowed into the Strip. Even carbonated drinks are no longer available there.

Abu Adib says that his daughter's friend, who is 15, brought to school a can of Coke that her father bought her on a trip abroad. The girl because an instant celebrity and all the others in class wanted to be photographed with her.

The prices of cigarettes are still rising, especially after Hamas banned dozens of stalls selling cigarettes smuggled from Egypt. Imported Marlboro Lights sell for NIS 40 per packet, while the smuggled ones go for "only" NIS 35.

The high prices have led the poorer residents to give up tobacco: Indeed, increasingly more Palestinians in the Strip are drying mallow leaves, which in normal times are used for food, in order to smoke them.

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1.	Terrible,no Coke,cry Schocken,cry Isacharoff ,second Alan Johnsto	23:45	\|	Absolute Sweden	03/12/07

2.	# 1 That was pretty heartless. People really are suffering	03:34	\|	Virginia	04/12/07

3.	#2 are we supposed to cry?	04:32	\|	Bob	04/12/07

4.	Have plenty of Kassams and mortar rounds	05:05	\|	Jorge	04/12/07

5.	Man,this is weird	07:49	\|	Carlos Murphy	04/12/07

6.	Desperate commercial situation in Gaza	11:02	\|	Umm Danny	04/12/07

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