EU Commission demands Israel to guarantee entry of fuel into Gaza

Friday April 25, 2008 08:20

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Luis Michel, the European Union Commissioner urged Israel on Thursday to ensure that entry of fuels into the Gaza Strip. The statement came after the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that it would be forced to halt the transfer of food to more than 650.000 refugees in the Gaza Strip,

Israel claims the crisis in Gaza is not as bad as it is reported and accused Hamas of “fabricating the fuel crisis in the Gaza Strip”.

On Wednesday, the United Nations office said that it cannot continue the distribution of food aid among the ongoing fuel crisis in Gaza.

Yet, Israel claimed that it allowed the transfer of 1 Million Liters of fuel into the coastal region, and added that this amount is enough to enable the continuation of human services. Yet, nearly 800.000 Liters of fuel are currently held at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal and did not make it into Gaza.

One million liters were reportedly transferred into the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night.

Arye Mekel, a spokesperson of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said that Hamas, which controls Gaza, can collect the fuel “but did not do so”. He added that Hamas is “ruling Gaza with propaganda”.

The fuel crisis in Gaza reached a critical level last week, as the residents are now forced to walk to work and their children have to walk for long distances to reach their schools.

If the crisis continues, the UNRWA will have to suspend its activities while hospitals and medical centers will not be able to run any more as they are running their electric equipment on fuel-run electricity generators due to the ongoing power shortage in Gaza.

This year, the EU allocated 29.5 Million Euros of aid to the Palestinian territories; most of this money is allocated for the Gaza Strip.