The entry of Qatari fuel into Gaza is blocked; Israel and the Palestinian Authority are guilty

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Israeli authorities have blocked 25 trucks of Qatari-funded fuel intended for Gaza’s only power plant from entering the strip, Hamas officials told the terror group’s Voice of Al-Aqsa radio station on Sunday morning. .

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the Israeli military body responsible for coordinating the entry of goods into Gaza, declined to comment.

A Defense Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed the Palestinians for the delay, saying the PA body responsible for coordinating with Israel failed to notify Israeli authorities that the fuel was to enter the enclave.

“As soon as the Palestinians coordinate properly with us, the fuel will come in,” the official said.

Two Palestinian officials in Gaza rejected this explanation, telling The Times of Israel that they had not been made aware of any coordination issues.

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Officials further argued that they were not at all responsible for coordinating the entry of Qatari fuel, which falls under a separate mechanism. Qatar, through its envoy to Gaza Mohammad al-Emadi, and the United Nations are coordinating directly with Israel to allow fuel to enter Gaza, Palestinian officials said.

A truck enters Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main crossing point for goods entering the Strip from Israel, on May 18, 2021 (Said Khatib / AFP)

United Nations and Qatar officials declined to comment.

Qatar has provided subsidized fuel for Gaza’s only power plant since 2018 as part of an aid program it is providing to the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.

Until the May fighting between Israel and Hamas, Jerusalem allowed the entry of subsidies, in an attempt to ease tensions on its southern border. But since the conflict in May, Jerusalem has sought to impose increased restrictions on Gaza, severely restricting imports and exports.

Israel has also largely halted the entry of Qatari grants – which in the past included millions in cash – although it recently allowed Qatari-funded fuel to start flowing into Gaza. Israeli officials have vowed they will not allow a return to the status quo, which they consider too favorable to the terrorist group Hamas.

During the war, Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rockets caused at least $ 290 million in damage in the Gaza Strip, international assessors reported in early July.

A photo taken on June 24, 2019 shows raw sewage flowing near the main power plant in the Gaza Strip, serving the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory south of Gaza City. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Israel and Egypt blocked the Gaza Strip for nearly 15 years in an attempt to weaken the leaders of the Hamas enclaves, which took control in a coup in 2007. Both countries claim that the measure is necessary to prevent the terrorist group from obtaining weapons and materials to build fortifications and tunnels.

Israel and Hamas conducted indirect negotiations in Cairo in an attempt to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between the two sides. Israeli officials said they would condition the authorization of Gaza reconstruction and the easing of increased restrictions to achieve a prisoner swap with Hamas that ensures the return of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed and the bodies IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who died in 2014 fighting.

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