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Sunday, December 02, 2007

Gaza fuel companies refuse Israeli shipments!

From Xinhua (identical item in Arabic in Palestine Press Agency):
Palestinian petrol distribution companies refused to receive the amount of fuel from Israel's Dor company as a form of protesting the Israeli reduced its fuel supplies to Gaza.

Palestinian said on Sunday that most of the service stations in Gaza Strip have run out of fuel, especially the diesel as Israel started to reduce Gaza fuel deliveries.

The Union of petrol stations owners said in a statement that the Gaza Strip needs 350 thousand liters of diesel everyday while Israel wants to allow only 90 thousand liters in.

As for the gasoline, the coastal Strip, where 1.5 million lives, needs 120 thousand liters and Israel wants to send 20 thousand liters. The 350 tons of gas were reduced to 80 tons, the statement added.

"The reduction of fuel is unjustifiable and irresponsible," the union said. "It causes negative effects on all sectors of life, especially on the health and education systems."

The union said the local petrol companies have refused to receive what Israel is sending "in order not to be partners in punishing the Palestinian people because these quantities are insufficient."

A small fact that Xinhua doesn't mention is that the fuel reduction from Israel amounts to only 15% less than usual, not the 75% implied by the Gaza union.

So rather than direct all the fuel they can get to, say, hospitals, the Gaza fuel companies would prefer to see patients die!

Ya think it might be because dead Gaza hospital patients are a potential embarrassment to Israel? Is it even remotely possible that Gaza Arabs prefer to see their own people die rather than pass up a great PR opportunity?

Nah...there must be come other explanation.