E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Egypt Cracking Down on Hamas' Black Market Fuel
Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai over the weekend. Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added.

Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip.

Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel smuggling network developed by Hamas - sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts. Hamas had long been using the tunnels - used to bring arms and other goods into Gaza - as a means of raising customs revenues on all goods entering the strip.
I could stop it -- just drop a match into the tunnels at the right time. I'd be standing at a distance, mind you...
While fuel is allowed into Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, Hamas eschewed such transfers as "prohibitively expensive" despite Israel selling fuel to the enclave at at market rates.

Observers note that tax-revenues from goods that pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing are paid to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah rather than Hamas.

A recent deal between Cairo and Ramallah to build a fuel pipeline into Gaza and upgrade the coastal enclave's sole power plant has also infuriated Hamas. Under the agreement, tariffs generated by the deal will be paid to the Fatah-run PA in Ramallah rather than the Hamas administration in Gaza.
Posted by: tipper 2012-05-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=344642