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A fuel tanker arrives at Gaza's main power plant following an Israeli fuel delivery Tuesday. (AP)
Last update - 01:07 23/01/2008
Hamas says gunman killed in clash with IDF troops in Gaza
By Mijal Grinberg, Yuval Azoulay and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents and News Agencies
Tags: Gaza Strip, Israel, blockade 

Israel Defense Forces troops killed a Hamas militant in a clash in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Hamas sources said.

Hamas and Gaza residents said IDF troops exchanged fire with Hamas militants inside the coastal strip near a border crossing between Israel and southern Gaza.

Residents said IDF tanks crossed into the territory after the clash.
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An IDF spokeswoman said she was looking into the report.

Earlier Tuesday, Hamas' Damascus-based political bureau chief said the Palestinians will keep targeting Israel with rockets as long as the IDF continues its "onslaught" on Gaza and the West Bank.

"We are dealing with aggressive Zionist behavior," Khaled Meshal said in an interview from Damascus. "Let Israel stop its aggression and its occupation of Palestinian land and the resistance, including rockets, will stop."

Israel delivered fuel to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the first shipment since it stepped up the embargo on the Hamas-controlled territory in response to the massive Qassam rocket barrages that targeted Israeli communities in recent days.

Also on Tuesday, 15 Qassam rockets hit the western Negev, causing no injuries or damage. Palestinian snipers also opened fire on an IDF patrol along the Gaza border near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. There were no injuries in that attack.

The director of Gaza's power plant, Derar Abu Sissi, said that one of its two turbines powered back up as the fuel arrived, restoring electricity to some outlying areas of Gaza City. The plant shut down Sunday in the wake of the fuel shortage, leaving much of Gaza without electricity.

Five Israeli tanker trucks parked at the Nahal Oz crossing on the Gaza border pumped 700,000 liters of fuel to the other side, enough to provide electricity to Gaza City for two days. Three more trucks delivered cooking gas, and a shipment of medicine was to be delivered later in the day.

In all, Israel has promised three fuel deliveries over three days, for a total of 2.2 million liters, enough to keep the power plant running for a week, said Kanan Obeid, head of Gaza's energy authority.

Defense officials said the fuel would be enough to power hospital generators, water and sewage pumps, as well as the Gaza power plant for "the immediate future."

Mahmoud Khouzander, a spokesman for Gaza's gas station owners, said the group would reject a planned Israeli shipment of 70,000 liters of fuel for cars as insufficient.

Israel agreed Monday to allow some fuel and medicine shipments into the besieged territory, vowing not to allow a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip but blaming Hamas for the current situation.

The decision followed growing international pressure at what was described as an imminent humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations Security Council will not approve a resolution condemning Israel over the closure of the Gaza Strip, due to pressure applied by the United States.

The council instead planned to issue a Presidential Statement on the matter.

Red Cross warns basic services in Gaza may collapse
The International Red Cross issued a dire warning on the state of basic services in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, calling on Israel to lift a blockade it has imposed in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

The agency said a shipment would be allowed into Gaza later Tuesday, but said aid needed to be allowed into the territory on a regular basis to prevent a complete collapse of health and sanitary services.

"Deliveries of essential humanitarian goods must be secured in the long run to prevent more hardship and to avoid the collapse of the already fragile infrastructure," said Dorothea Krimitsas, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

As Israel delivered some fuel for Gaza's power plant on Tuesday, easing the blockade, Krimitsas said the situation was still very precarious, with Gaza's hospitals pooling their fuel so that live-saving services could be maintained, such as surgery and intensive care units.

Medical supplies, however, are running out and health staff are having problems getting to work because transportation has become more difficult, Krimitsas told reporters.

"There is no functioning central heating in the hospitals," she added.

Krimitsas said Israel needed to provide conditions for Palestinians to live normal lives without relying forever on emergency relief. "Humanitarian aid alone cannot help contain the crisis," she said. What is needed are political steps."

Related articles:
  • Can a Gaza blockade stop Qassam fire?
  • Israel agrees to lift aid ban on Gaza Strip for one day
  • Gaza power plant shuts down due to fuel blockade
  • Gazans struggle to keep warm facing fuel, electricity shortages
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      1.   So what was the point? 09:00  |  Ephraim 22/01/08
      2.   The complete closure of the Gaza Strip ? 09:23  |  Harold Lane 22/01/08
      3.   Israeli PR! 09:48  |  Paulo 22/01/08
      4.   Why? 09:53  |  ATLAS 22/01/08
      5.   I Have An Idea 09:53  |  Mark 22/01/08
      6.   Simple maths 09:54  |  Sheikh Rattle & Roll 22/01/08
      7.   Proof Positive 10:03  |  Doc Holliday 22/01/08
      8.   energy to the enemy 10:08  |  Hilda 22/01/08
      9.   giving the enemy fuel for his rockets 10:17  |  Leeron`s Mom 22/01/08
      10.   JUST IN CASE 10:18  |  indrajaya 22/01/08
      11.   ?Uptens Round? in ?Gaza Ring? 10:19  |  H.H.M 22/01/08
      12.   When the Fuel Shipments Stopped, ... Hamas` Qassams Stopped. 10:25  |  Ruth 22/01/08
      13.   "In response to the .. rocket attacks, Israel cut fuel supplies" 10:25  |  Chanalau, Tova 22/01/08
      14.   Arab Media Blames HAMAS ..... Yes! 10:26  |  Ruth 22/01/08
      15.   Simple: Fuel and food for Quiet 10:55  |  Toss the Feathers 22/01/08
      16.   Why is Hamas smiling? 10:57  |  Natallie Durson 22/01/08
      17.   Chanalau 10:59  |  Iz Ray Leigh 22/01/08
      18.   Israeli tactics are bad. The strategy`s non-existent. 11:18  |  Michael 22/01/08
      19.   what we see now is the utter folly of disengagement 11:20  |  v hardman 22/01/08
      20.   Leaders, take your fingers out 11:30  |  NMS 22/01/08
      21.   # 7 Doc Holliday .. The shoe is on the other foot 11:36  |  Natallie Durson 22/01/08
      22.   More qassams 11:39  |  Nemesis 22/01/08
      23.   Mr. Olmert, "We don`t mind walking" 11:41  |  Samar Qutob 22/01/08
      24.   ISRAEL IS GETTING ITS OWN FUEL FROM EGYPT AND TURKEY 11:51  |  TrippleJump 22/01/08
      25.   #23 and what value do your words have samar? 11:51  |  v hardman 22/01/08
      26.   doc holiday #7 11:52  |  rondi 22/01/08
      27.   walking is good for you 11:57  |  rondi 22/01/08
      28.   TrippleJump 12:07  |  JW 22/01/08
      29.   To Paulo # 3 - WHAT brute military force? the Palestinians...? 12:10  |  Dagma 22/01/08
      30.   Interesting analogy Mr. Qutob 12:17  |  MaryRose 22/01/08
      31.   civilians as victims 12:42  |  Carlos 22/01/08
      32.   To Samar Qutob # 23 - THEN WALK..... 12:56  |  Dolly 22/01/08
      33.   difficult war 13:24  |  Juliana 22/01/08
      34.   "We hope Hamas got the message" 13:24  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 22/01/08
      35.   HOW CAN WE HELP AROUND THE WORLD? 13:25  |  TRUSTED INTERCEPT 22/01/08
      36.   16: Because people such as Natalie support terror 13:28  |  David Teich 22/01/08
      37.   WHO WANT ISRAEL 13:29  |  Ahmed 22/01/08
      38.   19: No, hardman, not of disengagement 13:30  |  David Teich 22/01/08
      39.   #21 Natalie Durson, you miss the point! 13:33  |  Doc Holliday 22/01/08
      40.   Samar Qutob...Videos I saw last night 13:36  |  Lynn 22/01/08
      41.   Time for the Next Strategy 13:36  |  Tzfonit 22/01/08
      42.   Gaza blockade 13:39  |  iletzter 22/01/08
      43.   BOYCOTT Israel 13:41  |  Meco 22/01/08
      44.   It Is No A Religious Conflict 13:46  |  Rabbi Weiss 22/01/08
      45.   To Samar #23. Terror is your proficiency 13:46  |  Rafi 22/01/08
      46.   Think Ahead 13:47  |  Mark Lincoln 22/01/08
      47.   to Dagma 13:48  |  Omar The Pali 22/01/08
      48.   not funny MaryRose 13:51  |  Omar the Pali 22/01/08
      49.   Which one of the UN Security Council member would have reacted 13:52  |  Nurit 22/01/08
      50.   ARABS MUST RESTORE ECONOMIC BLOCKADE ON ISRAEL... INCLUDING 13:53  |  TrippleJump 22/01/08
      51.   Yes Michael (18) there seems to be a curtain success 13:54  |  Karl 22/01/08
      52.   Hypocrisy 13:55  |  Omar the Pali 22/01/08
      53.   The answer to why so many votes about Israel 14:00  |  Tim 22/01/08
      54.   #33 Tim 14:07  |  Mike 22/01/08
      55.   #35 Mark Linclon 14:13  |  Mike 22/01/08
      56.   # 3 Paulo...no PR just truth 14:16  |  Lynn 22/01/08
      57.   #10 14:23  |  Moshe 22/01/08
      58.   Carlos /31 14:25  |  Anne 22/01/08
      59.   Fuel &Gas to Gaza 14:33  |  certified 22/01/08
      60.   TRIPLE JUMPISRAEL HAS MULTIPLE SOURCES OF FUEL 14:41  |  PETER SM 22/01/08
      61.   Durson...read the BBC Blogs today 14:43  |  Lynn 22/01/08
      62.   #18 14:44  |  Moshe 22/01/08
      63.   TRIPLE JUMP YOUR BROTHERS BOYCOTT AND BUY THROUGH THE BACK DOOR 14:44  |  PETER SM 22/01/08
      64.   # 35 Intercept...action@unwatch.org 14:45  |  Lynn 22/01/08
      65.   72 hours and 200+ PALmissiles later,Pals get rewarded. 14:47  |  PETER SM 22/01/08
      66.   Samar # 23 please go read what the rest 14:48  |  Lynn 22/01/08
      67.   To Mark Lincoln and The Rest of Interlocutors.The World. 14:51  |  Kathy 22/01/08
      68.   Thank you Lynn, Do you know who owns this site? 14:52  |  Intercept 22/01/08
      69.   End the vile siege,you rotters!Or expect to be hauled to an 14:55  |  lakshmi 22/01/08