Egypt’s desire to pressure Hamas to accept Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the new leader of the upcoming interim government caused an acute fuel shortage in Gaza, Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported Saturday.
The newspaper quoted Palestinian sources as saying Egypt has destroyed border tunnels to Gaza — which were used to smuggle fuel — in order to pressure Hamas to accept Abbas as the new prime minister.
Egypt also feared attacks by Bedouins and terrorists on Egyptian property, the paper said, adding that the country also wanted to make full use of its fuel.
Egypt has been suffering a fuel shortage for months. Many governorates also face a shortage of butane gas cylinders.
Palestinian sources said that Egypt knows how to pressure Gaza if the country isn’t satisfied by Hamas’ decisions.
Palestinians used to buy diesel fuel from Israel through a deal the European Union used to pay for. A crisis erupted when the EU, one of the biggest donors to the Palestinian Authority, decided to scale back aid in early 2010.
On Saturday, Egypt promised to provide diesel fuel for the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant, which went down this week after running out of fuel, a Gaza official said.
“Following our contacts with Egyptian officials, there have been serious promises to provide us with fuel starting [Sunday],” said Ahmed Abul Amrin of the Gaza energy authority.
Egyptian Ambassador to Palestine Yasser Othman denied that Egypt had tried to halt the fuel supply to Gaza, saying that Egypt can’t mix an economic blockade with the people’s interests and political issues.
He said that Israel's hampering the entrance of gas through Karam Abu Salem was the main reason behind the power outage, which Gaza’s power plant has been suffering since Tuesday.
