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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Will a Qatari ship dock in Ashdod to provide fuel for Gaza?

Palestine Today reports that PA prime minister Rami Hamdallah is currently in Qatar to discuss options for easing the Gaza fuel crisis, since Hamas adamantly refuses to pay market prices for fuel for the citizens it supposedly is protecting.

According to the report, two options are being explored.

One is that Qatar will pay the PA to purchase fuel from Israeli sources and that fuel can be pumped into Gaza as it used to be.

The other is that a Qatari fuel tanker would dock in Ashdod and that fuel would be transferred by Israel to Gaza via Kerem Shalom!

Why would Qatar even consider such a move?

Last year, Qatar sent a fuel tanker to Egypt to provide a huge amount of free fuel for Gaza. Less than half of that fuel was delivered; the remaining fuel is sitting in storage in Egypt. Despite numerous diplomatic attempts by Qatar urging Egypt to deliver the remaining fuel, Egypt refuses.

Israel is now considered a more reliable partner to helping Gaza than Egypt - even by fellow Arabs!