Palestinians have used up all storage supplies of vital cooking oil and will run out of petrol shortly unless Israel lifts a blockade it imposed on the territories, a Palestinian official said Saturday.
"This is a crisis," Loau Arndas, in charge of ensuring fuel supplies for the Palestinian Authority, told AFP.
"The Israeli army has been preventing cooking gas, petrol and other fuel from entering the Gaza Strip since last Thursday," the official said.
Since then, the army has refused to allow Palestinians to replenish their fuel stocks at Nahal Oz checkpoint, between Israel and Gaza Strip, where two major shipments of gas imported from France are waiting to be picked up, he explained.
"Our storage of cooking gas is completely used up and ten stations have closed," he said, adding that Palestinians use 100 tons of gas every day.
"Petrol will be used up in a few days," he warned.
Petrol station attendants told AFP that many people were lining up at stations to buy petrol to use as a substitute for cooking oil.
On Monday, Israel sealed off all West Bank towns under Palestinian control after four Israelis were shot dead by Palestinian gunmen.
In so doing, Israel issued a devastating blow to some 120,000 Palestinians who work in the Jewish state for their livelihood. The United Nations estimates the blockade is stopping 3.4 million dollars each day from going into the territories -- GAZA CITY (AFP)
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