"Israel" Lets only Five Fuel Trucks into Gaza

Source: Alalam.ir, 22-1-2008
GAZA CITY--Trucks carrying fuel entered the Gaza Strip early Tuesday amid mounting international fears of a humanitarian crisis in the wake of the "Israeli" occupying regime's punishing blockade of the territory.
Only two trucks carrying cooking gas and three with diesel for generators passed through the Nahal Oz border crossing, east of Gaza City, witnesses said.
It marked the first time supplies had entered Gaza since late on Thursday, when "Israeli" war minister Ehud Barak ordered the coastal strip sealed off.
The lockdown forced the closure of Gaza's sole power plant, which plunged entire blocks of Gaza City into darkness.
It sparked warnings of a humanitarian crisis in a territory whose 1.5 million inhabitants are largely dependent on foreign aid.
The director of the power plant told France's AFP news agency that he was hoping to resume generating electricity within the coming hours.
"As soon as the necessary quantities of fuel oil arrive, we will restart the turbines," said Rafiq Maliha. "We need at least four hours to do it."
With the resumed easing of the blockade expected to take time to restore supplies, crowds once again formed outside the few bakeries in Gaza City that managed to scrape together enough fuel to keep their generators running.
"I've been waiting for an hour and a half," said Majid Abu Qainas, 47, a father of six. "Last night I had one small piece of bread with zaatar (spice) and that was it for the whole night."
The impact of the "Israeli" blockade had sparked an international outcry on Monday with the European Union lashing out at the occupying regime for the "collective punishment" of Gaza's civilian population.
The United Nations had warned that it would be forced to stop distributing food aid to hundreds of thousands of people within days if the lockdown continued.
The UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting later on Tuesday to discuss the crisis following a request from Arab states.
The US ambassador in Occupied Palestine, Richard Jones, told AFP on Tuesday that Washington was "closely monitoring the situation".
In the face of the international protests, Barak had ordered the easing of the blockade late on Monday, with fuel deliveries to begin the following day and medicine and other humanitarian supplies to be trucked in on Wednesday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Aryeh Mekel said the fuel deliveries would total 2.2 million liters (572,000 gallons), which "should be enough for the power plant to run for a week."
Thirteen of the trucks would contain aid supplied by Jordan.
"We will continue to assess the situation and act according to what's happening on the ground," Mekel said, while stressing that supply could be cut again if Palestinian fighters fired more rockets from Gaza.
Since last Tuesday, "Israeli" raids in Gaza have martyred 37 Palestinians.
The easing of the blockade was welcomed by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal from his base in exile in Damascus.
Meshaal stressed however that the movement remained committed to the armed struggle against the "Israeli" occupation.