Qatar is waiting for Israeli and Palestinian confirmation to send oil to Gaza electricity plant

The Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip has said that Qatar is now waiting for the Israeli and Palestinian Authority agreement to send a full tanker of oil to the sole electricity plant in Gaza.

Senior aides for the Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh said: “Qatar has finished all preparations to send the oil, but it is waiting for the Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) agreement.”

The aide said that the oil would be unloaded in the Israeli port of Ashdod and then transferred to the Gaza Strip through Karem Abu-Salem Crossing.

Haniyeh previously announced that Qatar donated $10 million of taxes imposed on the PA in the West Bank for the oil bought for the electricity plant in Gaza.

During the last week a rainstorm hit Gaza and Haniyeh asked Abbas for the oil in order to run the electricity plant, but the latter refused unless tax was paid. Haniyeh phoned several Arab and Muslim leaders for help.

Qatar agreed to pay the money, in addition to another $5 million to compensate around 1,100 families whose houses and properties have been damaged by the rainstorm.

Gaza has been under strict Israeli siege since 2006. This has led to a severe shortage in electricity supplies and means that Gaza residents have only eight hours of electricity a day.

Due to the high taxes that have been imposed on the PA in the West Bank on the slightest amount of fuel being allowed through to the electricity plant in Gaza, the electricity plant stopped around 50 days ago and people have had only three hours of electricity a day.