Israel permits first Gaza benzene transfer in ten months

Ma'an
A limited amount of diesel and benzene for use in civilian cars was purchased from Israel and will be allowed into Gaza on Monday. This marks the first time since October 2008 that such a transfer has been permitted, an official said.

..... Israel and Egypt have maintained a near-total blockade of the Strip by land and sea since June 2007, and the quantities and types of goods allowed into Gaza are subject to tight restrictions. Many Palestinians have turned to smuggling items from Egypt through tunnels.

In an apparent attempt to offset the Egypt-Gaza fuel black market, Israel agreed to allow its companies to sell some fuel to Gaza.

According to Al-Khizindar, Israel will permit sales of about 800,000 liters of diesel and 75,000 liters of benzene per week, which is the same limited quantity that had been allowed before October 2008. On Monday, Israel delivered 100,000 liters of diesel and 40,000 liters of benzene.

It was not clear if Israel's ultimate decision had anything to do with the deaths of four Palestinians who were burned alive in a smuggling tunnel on Sunday when leaking fuel caught fire, but Al-Khizindar said the negotiations for fuel had been going on two weeks prior.

The tunnel industry is notoriously dangerous, and dozens of workers are killed each year in workplace accidents. Above the regular collapse of the sandy tunnels, Israeli and Egyptian border police routinely bomb access points or flood the passages with water or fuel. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed in tunnel incidents since the siege on Gaza began in 2007.

Last Monday two young Gazans were killed and eight others injured when benzene, which was being smuggled through via long pipes, began to leak into the underground area. Four workers were injured when one of the tunnels collapsed two weeks earlier. Full story