Israel resumes shipments of Qatari fuel to Gaza that it had blocked
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided today to resume the supply of fuel purchased by Qatar for the Gaza Strip, which had been paralyzed two weeks ago in retaliation for the incidents on the separation fence.
After consultations with security officials, Lieberman decided to lift the suspension for the Strip, under blockade by Israel since Hamas took control in 2007, announced last night Defense in a brief statement.
Lieberman suspended the shipment with the warning not to resume it until "the violence in the Strip comes to a complete stop, including the launching of incendiary balloons and the burning of tires near Israeli communities."
Israel also closed last week the border crossings with the Palestinian enclave, Erez and Kerem Shalom (for people and goods, respectively), by the launching of rockets from the Strip, which were responded by Israel with the bombing of a score of targets of Hamas in Gaza.
The crossings were reopened two days ago, after a weekend of relative calm in the divide, and yesterday the fishing zone in Gaza was extended to six nautical miles, also reduced a week ago in retaliation for the protests of the flotillas in the coast of the strip.
The hundreds of liters of fuel purchased by Qatar will re-enter the Strip to alleviate the energy cuts suffered by its inhabitants, with an average of four hours of electricity per day.
Since March 30, the mobilizations of the Great Return March are repeated every week on the dividing line to claim the right of return and to protest against the Israeli blockade, and since then 207 Palestinians have died, both in the protests and in violent incidents along the border.
