Israel halts fuel deliveries to Gaza: radio

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Sunday halted deliveries of petrol to the Gaza Strip following its takeover by fighters from the Islamist movement Hamas, army radio said.

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The radio said the private Dor Alon company, the sole firm providing petrol to Gaza, took the decision after coordinating with the army.

The army coordination office for the Gaza Strip could not immediately confirm the report.

Fuel supplies for electricity generators are continuing for the moment, the radio said.

The Israeli infrastructure ministry estimates that Gaza currently has a minimum of two weeks' worth of reserves for car fuel, it said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070617/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestgazaisraeleconomyfuel_070617093303

Israeli company cuts off Gaza gasoline

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The sole supplier of gasoline for motorists in Gaza has announced it will no longer provide gasoline to stations there in the wake of the Hamas take over.

The Israeli fuel company Dor Alon said that the company will continue to supply gasoline to Gaza's electricity power plant, a spokeswoman said.

The Dor Alon spokeswoman would not say what prompted Sunday's announcement, however, its supply agreement is with the Palestinian Authority which no longer is in control of Gaza.

The company had threatened to cut off gasoline supplies in the past over non-payment issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/06/17/sunday/index.html

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel sent troops into northern Gaza on Sunday and cut off petrol supplies to the territory as it moved to isolate the Islamic militants of Hamas who are now in full control.

Israel also pledged to step up support for moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose writ is now effectively confined to the occupied West Bank, and was expected to resume full cooperation with his new cabinet, after shunning previous Hamas-led governments for more than a year.

Deputy Defence Minister Ephraim Sneh denied that the Israeli incursion into neighbouring areas of northern Gaza presaged an imminent offensive against the territory.

"These are activities of a preventive character, for the moment we are not going on the offensive in the Gaza Strip," Sneh told public radio.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070617/wl_mideast_afp/mideastunrestgazaisrael_070617150423

And isn't that why we are in this current situation?

Sounds like another 'we don't know what to do so we'll continue doing what we've been doing, even though it's failed in the past' policy.

from reuters:
COMPLETE ISOLATION

Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, whose office controls fuel supplies, called for a complete separation between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, where Fatah remains dominant.

"We should simply increase the isolation of Gaza," Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio. "I want to stop everything until we understand what is going on there."

Palestinian officials asked Dor Alon not to cut off any more fuel until further notice, the infrastructure ministry said.

Israel's deputy defence minister, Efraim Sneh, said Gaza will not be cut off completely.

"There will be a crisis in Gaza because it's being controlled by gangs who show no responsibility to the public. Israel is not (Hamas leader) Ismail Haniyeh's welfare office," Sneh said on Israel Radio.

Senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said he had asked Israel to allow fuel and raw materials to continue reaching the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza, many of them aid-dependent refugees.

"I have spoken to the Israelis about President Abbas's request to maintain the flow of food, medical supplies, fuel, electricity and water to Gaza," Erekat told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Wafa Amr in Ramallah)

http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17485730.htm

Erekat was on CNN earlier emphasizing the guns, etc. :shrug:

UN warns Gaza poverty may breed more violence
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA, June 17 (Reuters) - A senior United Nations official in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday that difficult living conditions there may worsen and could lead to more violence.

"I think the situation is very grave," said John Ging, head of operations in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency which provides humanitarian services to most of the strip's 1.5 million Palestinians.

"In misery and poverty you find the seeds of violence," Ging told Reuters in an interview.

The Islamist Hamas faction seized control of Gaza after fierce fighting last week with the rival Fatah group of President Mahmoud Abbas.

The United States, Israel and some European states plan to quickly lift a ban on direct aid to a new Palestinian government sworn in by Abbas on Sunday in place of a Hamas-led unity government, but it is unclear how much money may flow to Gaza.

Israel, which controls Gaza's borders, hopes to isolate the territory after the Hamas takeover. It stopped most fuel supplies on Sunday, putting hospitals and business on hold.

more;http://wap.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B601133.htm

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Jamal Abu Zayda waited 15 hours in the Erez crossing, a narrow tunnel with high walls, jostling with thieves, panicked women and crying babies before reaching Israel early Sunday.

By just getting out of the tunnel, he was one of the lucky ones.

A fluent Hebrew speaker with excellent relations with Israeli officials, Abu Zayda stood a good chance of getting out of Gaza, now ruled by Hamas militants. As a former senior security official from Fatah, he feared he'd been put on a Hamas death list.

Although there is a general amnesty for most Fatah fighters, who lost a five-day battle with Hamas militias, the Muslim group has vowed to kill those they believe have blood on their hands.

Many officials are still trapped inside the narrow concrete-walled corridor. Like Abu Zayda, they fear returning to Gaza, but Israel won't let them in.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070617/ap_on_re_mi_ea/gaza_notebook;_ylt=AlawNBg64czotqPNnkkQLoULewgF