 European Union said Tuesday it will resume vital fuel aid to the Gaza Strip's electric company, bringing a measure of relief to Palestinians who have sweltered at home or choked on generator smoke during five days of power outages. The EU had suspended payments for the fuel that powers major Gaza electricity generators on Sunday, suspecting the strip's Hamas rulers were pocketing electricity revenues. On Tuesday, the bloc announced that fuel shipments to the power plant would resume the following day. Hamas denied skimming money, saying the allegations were an attempt by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' government in the West Bank to discredit the Islamic group.| "Yeah. They wuz jus' tryin' to make us look bad!" |
Hamas has been going door to door in Gaza in recent weeks, ordering residents to pay long-overdue electricity bills. While Hamas denies it controls the electricity company, Abbas' Fatah insists it does, citing the arrest last month of the Gaza electric company's executive director. The electricity crisis confronted the Islamic militant Hamas with a major crisis just two months after it seized control of the strip, vanquishing Fatah forces loyal to Abbas.
At a falafel stand in downtown Gaza City on Tuesday, people waiting in line covered their noses with their hands to avoid the fumes of the gas generators and stench from a pile of garbage that had been mounting for nine days due to a strike by unpaid municipal workers. "I stepped out of work to get some fresh air but I smell only exhaust from the generators and burnt garbage," said a mother of five who would only give her name as Nawal. "Then I go home to live in darkness. So 24 hours a day I can't avoid the noise and the misery of the dirty pollution of Gaza." |