Fuel Suspension by EU to Gaza

BRUSSELS, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - The European Union has suspended its funding of fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip due to security concerns, a spokeswoman in Brussels said Sunday. The confirmation came after parts of the Palestinian Gaza Strip suffered power cuts due to the lack of fuel deliveries for the impoverished territory's only working power plant. "We have temporarily suspended the fuel supplies due to security concerns," European Commission spokeswoman Antonia Mochan told AFP. "We are just going to assess the situation and we hope to resume the supplies as soon as we can," she added. The fuel supplies are funded under a temporary EU system set up to prevent direct funding to the hardline Islamist Hamas movement which seized control of Gaza in a bloody takeover two months ago. The EU executive arm's spokeswoman said that "we understand that there are enough stocks to continue production for a few days," adding that the EU was not the only fuel provider to the plant, supplying around 25 percent of its needs. "It is a decision by the commission services, the people implementing the mechanism on the ground," she said. The Israeli company Dor Alon that delivers the fuel said the EU "told us not to deliver because there is no guarantee that we will receive payment for today's fuel." It is the latest blow to hit one of the world's most overcrowded places that has been effectively sealed off by Israel since Hamas seized control, sparking fears of a humanitarian crisis. The power station -- which according to the EU produces between 25 and 30 percent of the electricity in Gaza -- shut the last of its four generators on Sunday after it did not receive fuel from Israel, its chief Rafiq Maliha told AFP. A senior Palestinian official in Ramallah told AFP the EU made its decision because of problems collecting money from Hamas -- the Islamist movement that has controlled Gaza since a bloody takeover on June 15. burs-pvh/boc Mideast-Gaza-electricity-EU
Source Islam Online