Gaza drivers halt traffic in protest of Israeli fuel cuts

Date: 14 / 02 / 2008 Time: 10:31
Gaza – Ma'an –

Drivers stopped their cars for a half hour in the streets of Gaza City at the request of the Popular Committee for Countering the Siege in protest against the reduction of fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military.

Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Jamal Al-Khudari, a member of the Popular Committee, visited Palestine Square in the centre of Gaza City where the protesting drivers were concentrated. He said the fuel cuts have a negative affect on all dimensions of ordinary Palestinian life. He added, "The gradual reductions in fuel and cuts of electricity lessen international reactions to the Palestinian suffering."

He reminded the audience that the capacity of the power plant in Gaza has already decreased since the station was shelled by the Israelis in 2006, and the new reduction of fuel supply will incapacitate the station even more.

Al-Khudari affirmed that ambulances have also decreased their activity due to the fuel supplies' reduction, and hospitals have been using reserve generators as a result of frequent power cuts. Many of these generators were out of order because there are no supplies of spare parts for maintenance. Consequently, the overall health situation in the Gaza Strip is jeopardized, he said.

He concluded his speech by appealing to the international community and the free people of the world to show more solidarity with the Palestinian people highlighting that the international solidarity campaign will peak on February 23rd.

Gas running out

Gas stations in the Gaza Strip closed on Thursday after running out of gasoline and extreme shortages of diesel fuel.

The union of gas stations owners decided to file a petition to reverse the fuel cuts in the Israeli High Court of Justice, despite worries that the Court may side with the Israeli authorities over the Palestinians, said union chief Mahmoud Al-Khizindar. He explained that a hearing in will take place next week.

He explained that gasoline supplies have run out completely after the Israeli authorities reduced supplies from 120 thousand liters per day to 75 thousand per week, which is less that 5% of the Strip needs daily. He affirmed that 300 gas stations remained completely without benzene.

As for diesel, he pointed out that a crisis is looming as supplies of diesel brought from Egypt when the border was briefly open have been depleted. There has been reduction in diesel supply from 2 million liters to 850 thousand per week, Al-Khizindar said.

***Updated at 11:25 Bethlehem time

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