Gaza faces crisis as Israel closes all crossings, ceases fuel supply and food reserves are limited

Ma'an News Agency

18 June, 2007

The prices of basic goods, including food and cigarettes, soared in the Gaza Strip and bakeries and shops are experiencing high demand as a result of fear among local citizens that Israel may blockade the strip.

Ma'an's reporter in Gaza said that local Palestinians are heading to bakeries, and gas and fuel stations in unprecedented numbers, fearing that Israel may impose a long-term blockade after having closed all the crossings between Gaza and bordering Israel and Egypt.

The media advisor of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Adnan Abu Hasnah, warned of a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip if the Israel-imposed siege continues.

"The situation was bad before this new crisis and if the closure continues, there will be a humanitarian disaster," said Abu Hasnah.

Hasnah added that UNRWA has food reserves to last for just three weeks in the Gaza Strip. "We don't want to use these food reserves as they are allocated for services to 870,000 Gazan refugees," he said.

Oil dries up

In an unprecedented move, the sole supplier of fuel to the Gaza Strip, Israeli company Dor Alon, in cooperation with the Israeli ministry of defence, has ceased to supply fuel to Gaza. Israeli sources announced on Sunday that the company decided to halt supply in the aftermath of the internal Palestinian conflict and Hamas ascension to power in the strip.

The Israeli government has denied the reports and claimed that were Dor Alon to cease supply to Gaza, it would be set to lose millions of shekels in revenues.

Israeli observers estimate the fuel to run out in the Gaza Strip within 2 or 3 days if Israel does not resume its supplies.

Dor Alon announced that over the past 9 months, sales in Gaza Strip brought revenues of 1.720 billion shekels, which is ~ $0.4 billion.

Mass exodus

Israeli daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, said that among the hundreds of Gazan citizens who fled, there were employees of the international relief agencies and other solidarity activists, who feared for their lives after Hamas took control.

Buses departed from Erez Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel and took passengers to Tarqumiya Crossing, west of Hebron, in the southern West Bank.

An official from the organization Doctors without Borders, Ibrahim Habib, said that patients and injured people could be waiting at the crossing points, including those who need immediate surgery.

In response to the appeals from humanitarian organizations, the Israelis said that they are not responsible for the Gazan citizens or those who fled the Gaza Strip.

Ma'an learned that more than 700 Gazan citizens tried to flee the Gaza Strip to the West Bank on Sunday, in addition to hundreds who have already left.

An Israeli general commented on the problem saying, "Gaza is not an Israeli problem and not all who run away are in jeopardy, but people run away because they know the future economic dangers." He added, "If we allow everyone who wants to flee into the West Bank it will influence the good standard of living in the West Bank."

Hamas appeal

The Hamas movement on Sunday urged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to avoid flocking to buy food products. The movement sent a message assuring citizens that the daily life in the Gaza Strip would not deteriorate.

The movement ordered merchants to keep their shops open in order to avoid a monopoly of food outlets. Hamas told the merchants to support the population, affirming the business and life must continue as usual and that there will be no shortage of food.