Rafah Crossing (Reuters)
Middle East
Israeli sources: Allow fuel to enter Gaza… as long as it doesn’t reach Hamas
The Palestinian Authority for Crossings and Borders, which monitors the Rafah crossing with Egypt, announced on Friday evening the injection of 17,000 liters of fuel into the Gaza Strip to power the telecommunications company’s electricity generators.
The authority said in a statement that “17,000 liters of diesel were introduced recently through the Rafah crossing for the benefit of the telecommunications company.”
The Palestinian Telecommunications Company and Jawwal said on Friday that communications and Internet services have begun to return to some areas of the Gaza Strip after saving some fuel.
The two companies said in a statement published separately by each of them: “We would like to announce the start of the partial restoration of communication services (fixed, mobile and Internet) in various areas of the Gaza Strip, after a limited period of fuel it was provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to run the generators at our main power plants.
The statement adds: “The continuity of services depends on the regular supply of sufficient quantities of fuel.”
Communications and internet services have been subject to repeated disruptions in recent weeks, after Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip last October.
On Thursday, the Palestinian telecommunications company “Paltel” announced a “complete disruption of communications services… after preventing the entry of fuel and depleting all reserve energy sources to operate the main elements of the network “.
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Israeli sources reported that Egypt was allowed to bring ten more trucks loaded with fuel to Gaza, with a total of 150,000 liters of fuel being brought into the Strip, although no agreement had been reached regarding the prisoners.
An Israeli source said that this was a decision taken in the mini-cabinet, and the Prime Minister had announced in recent weeks that “fuel will not be brought to the Gaza Strip until progress is made on the prisoner issue.” , there has been no progress in the prisoner issue, but fuel comes in.
The War Council, which includes civilians and military personnel and is responsible for managing the war in the Gaza Strip, decided last night, after a six-hour meeting, to approve a joint recommendation from the Israeli army and the General Security Service, to respond to US requests and to allow the entry of two fuel tanks per day, to support the needs of the United Nations in terms of water infrastructure and sanitation.
This step allows Israel to maintain the international position necessary to suppress Hamas.
The two tanks will pass through the Rafah crossing, through the United Nations, to reach the civilian population in the southern Gaza Strip on the condition that the fuel does not reach Hamas.
This measure aims, among other things, to provide minimum support to water, sanitation and hygiene systems, to avoid the outbreak of epidemics that could spread throughout the region, affecting the residents of the Strip and the armed forces and could also extend to the inside Israel, according to the source.