More Qatari fuel allowed into Gaza for sole power plant

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Israel on Wednesday morning allowed more Qatar-funded fuel shipments into the blockaded Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.

“The entry of Qatari fuel into Gaza resumed this morning,” a Palestinian security source told Anadolu Agency.

The source, insisting on anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, said a total of seven trucks laden with Qatari fuel were expected to enter the Hamas-run coastal enclave on Wednesday.

Tuesday saw pair of fuel-loaded trucks entering blockaded Gaza from Israel through Kerem Shalom.

According to a Tuesday statement by Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, 15 trucks -- all loaded with fuel from Qatar -- are expected to soon begin entering Gaza on a daily basis.

Dujarric also expressed the UN secretary-general’s appreciation for Qatar’s $60-million contribution to the fuel-shipment scheme, which is ostensibly aimed at alleviating the difficult living conditions faced by blockaded Gaza’s Palestinian inhabitants.

On Tuesday, the Ramallah-based Palestinian government -- in reference to the fuel shipments -- announced its “total rejection” of what it described as “suspicious projects”.

Ramallah had taken this position, the government added, with a view to “preserving the unity of the homeland and preempting plans to separate Gaza from the rest of the country, thus derailing the Palestinian national cause”.

Last week, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that a deal had been struck with Qatar by which the latter would finance fuel procurements for Gaza.

Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade that has deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many vital commodities, including food, fuel medicine.