Israel Allows Fuel Trucks into Gaza from Egypt

Israel’s army has allowed eight trucks of fuel and cooking gas to enter the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the army’s liaison office with Palestinians, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said on Friday.

On Friday morning local time, four tankers of fuel and another four tankers carrying cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to UN humanitarian aid organizations in the southern Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing from Egypt, COGAT said.

“The fuel and cooking gas are designated for operating essential humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza,” it added.

The fuel shipment was approved by the government of Israel as part of the ceasefire and the framework for the release of hostages agreed with the United States and mediated by Qatar and Egypt, COGAT said.

A four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began on Friday to facilitate the release of dozens of hostages whom Hamas took on its raid on Israel in early October. As part of the deal, Israel will free some Palestinian prisoners, too.

The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, was announced on Wednesday and entered into force on Friday, one day later than initially planned.

Since the October attack by Hamas, Israel has imposed a blockade and hasn’t allowed fuel to enter the Gaza Strip.

Last week, telecommunications in the Gaza Strip went down as the area ran out of fuel for backup generators, mobile communications operators and Internet service providers said.

“We regret to announce that all telecom services in Gaza Strip have gone out of service as all energy sources sustaining the network have been depleted, and fuel was not allowed in,” the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel Group), the largest provider of telecom services in Palestine, said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch last week warned that the blackout was imminent due to fuel shortages.   

“The Israeli government should allow fuel to reach Gaza to avoid plunging its population further into isolation and end its collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population,” said Deborah Brown, senior technology researcher at Human Rights Watch.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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