Gaza traffic grinds to halt as fuel cuts bite

Nidal al-Mughrabi, Reuters, 3.12.07. What had been a gradual reduction has intensified, and in the last few days, supplies representing just 15 percent of the coastal strip's daily consumption were being allowed in. Petrol firms considered the amount "good for nothing" and were refusing to accept it in protest over the Israeli blockade. "Yesterday the situation was dark, today it is darker and it gets worse every single hour," said Mahmoud al-Khuzundar, chairman of Gaza's society of petrol company owners. Khaled Radi, spokesman for the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, said fuel shortages had already forced some ambulances off the road and threatened to close clinics, which rely on back-up generators during frequent electricity blackouts. "The Israeli decision is a death penalty," Radi said. "Our reserve of fuel is almost zero and maybe it will run out by the end of today," he said adding two health centres had already been forced to suspend treatment during power cuts. Israel's High Court of Justice last week rejected an appeal by human-rights groups to overturn the fuel cuts. The court found in favor of the Defence Ministry's argument that the fuel supply for vital "humanitarian needs" in Gaza had been maintained. Khuzundar said Gaza's water supply and sewage system could also be affected if fuel runs out altogether. (Editing by Michael Winfrey)