(Times of Israel) Avi Issacharoff - Recent Egyptian military activity put out of commission hundreds of tunnels that were used to import one million liters of fuel into Gaza each day. As a result, Hamas has no choice but to purchase fuel from Israel via the Palestinian Authority. The PA purchases a liter of fuel for Gaza's power plant for approximately 4 shekels and has tried to sell it to Hamas for almost double, including an excise tax, which is a critical part of the PA's own budget. Hamas rejected that price and stopped purchasing fuel for the power plant. "The situation is unbearable," says R, a Gaza resident. "There is no electricity at home throughout most of the day. The elevators don't work. Those who can afford it buy a car battery to turn on the lights in their homes, but that's not enough to operate washing machines, televisions or other appliances. Imagine what it's like for people in apartment buildings. Some have generators, but they use fuel which costs 7 shekels per liter. So they set their elevators to go on for five minutes every hour."
2013-11-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive