Israeli government sources said today that Israel will not resume providing the Gaza strip with fuel needed to generate electricity and cooking gas. The decision comes shortly after three Israeli soldiers were killed when a group of Al Qassam Brigades managed to ambush them near the Nahal Oz border crossing located at the central Gaza Israeli borders.
Last week, Palestinian fighters attacked the Nahal-Oz terminal and killed two Israelis: in response Israel stopped fuel coming to Gaza via Nahal-Oz. On Tuesday the Israeli government had stated that it would resume the fuel shipments into Gaza on Wednesday.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), stated on Tuesday that the cuts of transportation fuel have paralyzed the movement of Gazans by 80%.
The PCHR added that the Health, Water, and Education sectors in Gaza are 50% paralyzed due to fuel shortages. The Israeli army has placed Gaza under a strict siege since June 2007, leaving the coastal region experiencing sharp shortages of fuel, medicine, water, and food supplies.
On Wednesday afternoon several Palestinian resistance groups reported that their fighters fired a number of home made shells targeting nearby Israeli areas, Israeli sources said seven shells landed in the western Negev, no injures were reported.
