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Palestinian children holding Palestinian flags and protest signs in front of the Parliament building in Gaza City last month. (AP) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 22:33 06/12/2007 Gaza gas station owners won't accept reduced fuel supply from Israel By DPA Tags: Gaza, fuel, Israel, gasoline A strike staged by the owners of Gaza gasoline stations entered its fifth day Thursday, deepening a fuel crisis that has been gradually emptying the coastal strip's streets of cars and taxis. The gasoline stations are striking to protest an Israeli cut in fuel supplies to the Hamas-ruled Strip aimed at curbing daily rocket and mortar attacks from the area on southern Israel. Israel first began cutting its supply of fuel to Gaza on October 28, and has continued to do so after the High Court of Justice on Friday rejected a petition filed by human rights groups demanding it declare the move illegal. Advertisement The court on Sunday ordered the state to delay its reduction of electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip by at least one week, pending a full presentation detailing the proposed operation. The justices, however, upheld the state's plan to reduce fuel transfers to the Strip, as long as the humanitarian needs of Gaza's residents were given primary consideration. Israel, through its Dor Alon fuel company, continues to supply Gaza with some 90,000 liters of diesel, 25,000 liters of gasoline and 100 tons of natural gas a day. But, complained Mahmoud al-Khozendar of the Union of Gaza Service Stations, this supply is only one-third of the daily needs of Gaza's population. The union has therefore refused to receive the reduced amounts. The union announced the strike Sunday, saying it did not want to be accomplices to Israel's "punishing the Palestinian people." In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the union Thursday of deepening the crisis by refusing the fuel. Mujahed Salama, the director of the Palestinian Authority-run Palestinian Petrol Association in Ramallah, said about one million liters of diesel and 300,000 liters of gasoline had amassed at the association's storehouses. "The problem is with the service stations which went on strike and refused to receive their shares," Salama said in a statement sent to reporters. "The rejection to obtain the fuel widens the crisis," he said. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Gaza Strip has some 145 gasoline stations, most of which have shut down. Residents said traffic in Gaza City's streets is getting scarcer by the day and more and more people are walking to work and to school. More and more taxi drivers have also stopped working, as they have run out of stored supplies. Late Thursday the gas station owners said they would reopen on a limited basis. It was not immediately clear what led them to change their minds. Israel has not reduced the amounts of crude diesel, used by ambulances and fire engines. Related articles: High Court orders state to delay planned power cuts to Gaza IDF: Gaza fuel cuts don't violate humanitarian duty Israel to start gradually reducing Gaza power supply December 2 PA seeks int'l intervention as Gaza power cuts imminent Bookmark to del.icio.us Serious accusation Iran claims that U.S. data on their nuclear program came from spying. No plans to stop The Housing Minister says there's no reason to stop E. J'lem construction.   1.   Diesel 17:12  |  B 06/12/07   2.   Arab "logic" 17:20  |  Cyril Jones 06/12/07   3.   Israel Disengaged - They Can Get Supplies from Egypt 17:26  |  Straight Talk 06/12/07   4.   Arab states should do something 17:41  |  DO IT MAMA 06/12/07   5.   The logic of the pals 17:45  |  Bradley Gale 06/12/07   6.   PAL Gas Station Owners, Allies 17:49  |  Brad 06/12/07   7.   More Narcissistic Rage From Gaza 18:19  |  dyinglikeflies 06/12/07   8.   Stop the siege... :-0 18:34  |  real vision 06/12/07   9.   think they would do the same with munitions? 18:59  |  vik 06/12/07   10.   where are the human rights groups now?? 19:50  |  eliezer 06/12/07   11.   gas for no rockets 19:56  |  nelsonsamuel 06/12/07   12.   I don`t even understand the logic. 20:18  |  Yoni Gross 06/12/07   13.   There is plenty of oil in Sinai 20:21  |  Jake 06/12/07   14.   DUH! 20:32  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 06/12/07   15.   Great - you don`t want tainted Zionist oil, just say the word 20:47  |  Kenny 06/12/07   16.   Hamas has no common sense 20:58  |  GPS 06/12/07   17.   Oil from Egypt 21:38  |  Rav Harley 06/12/07   18.   Hamas stealing fuel from hospitals 22:17  |  Briton 06/12/07   19.   Gandhi - esque 22:39  |  Reader 06/12/07   20.   fuel or rockets -take your pick 01:01  |  don 07/12/07   21.   Nothings better than some? 01:34  |  Avram 07/12/07   22.   Gaza gas station owners won`t accept reduced fuel supply from Isr 03:23  |  Elyah 07/12/07   23.   From Pilgrims to Pipelines - Egypt to the Rescue 03:49  |  Reader 07/12/07   24.   fuel supply for Gaza 05:22  |  peacenik 07/12/07   25.   arab illogic as usual stop attacking israel 13:24  |  victor hardman 07/12/07   26.   Egyptian oil fields and refineries are only 200km away! 19:30  |  Genuine Tosefta 07/12/07   27.   A useful strike 21:28  |  Philippe 07/12/07   28.   How did Adam and eve Greeks do it RIGHT ??? 03:07  |  M. S. 08/12/07   29.   gas stations should serve all but the terrorists 13:18  |  Michelle 08/12/07   30.   This is atrocious expecting Gazans to do with less 19:45  |  Dutch 08/12/07

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