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Hamas Intentionally Making Gaza Life Harder to Score Political Points

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  • Hamas Intentionally Making Gaza Life Harder to Score Political Points

    Hamas took control of the power plant in Gaza, and it has been plagued with problems ever since, including disagreements over who is going to foot the bill, Hamas or Fatah, and in the meantime, the actual people in Gaza suffer. Here's a timeline:

    December 26-30, 2010: COGAT, the agency in charge of transferring aid and goods to Gaza, notes a 5% decrease in diesel fuel being sent to Gaza, following Hamas' decision to stop using Israeli diesel fuel and to deal with Egypt instead.

    January, 2012: COGAT notes "Heavy-duty diesel for the power plant is delivered directly from Egypt according to the Palestinians' decision; therefore, no diesel is transferred from Israel."

    February 9, 2012: Palestine Today reports that Gaza will fall into darkness within 72 hours if fuel is not found.

    February 14, 2012: Egypt Independent and Ma'an both report that Egypt is cracking down on fuel smuggling into Gaza, leading to the blackouts. Now, Israel has been providing Gaza with a steady 120 megawatts a day, even though Gaza doesn't purchase fuel from Israel anymore. The Palestinians chose not to purchase fuel from Israel, and choose to not return to purchasing fuel from Israel, despite shortages. Israel's stance has not changed, and is willing to send fuel as soon as Hamas wants.

    February 14, 2012: Reuters erroneously reports: "Israel provides the Mediterranean territory with at least 35 percent of its energy needs, but closed off its own fuel pipeline into the enclave in January 2010.

    (According to the Israeli ministry of Foreign Affairs: "After the fuel depot at Nahal Oz was repeatedly attacked by Palestinian terrorists from the Gaza Strip, it was forced to limit its operations. The Kerem Shalom crossing has since been adapted to the transfer of fuel. In addition, a new gas line with double the capacity to transfer gas was built.)

    Abu Al-Amrain said Israel bore overall responsibility for the ongoing crisis, but Mustafa Ibrahim, a human rights researcher and writer, said Hamas’s administration had failed to provide the territory with an energy safety net.

    “[The Energy Authority] made everything depend on fuel smuggled through the tunnels, without having any guarantees that this flow could continue. The current severe crisis is evidence that this was the wrong approach,” he said."

    (That hasn't stopped the Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority from blaming Israel: "Because of lack of fuel supplies coming into the Gaza Strip...by the deliberate actions to prevent the access of fuel to Gaza" Despite this being a Hamas decision to rely on smuggled Egyptian fuel instead of paid for Israeli fuel.

    February 20, 2012: An article in Dar al Hayat sheds some light on the issue: Egyptians subsidize fuel for their citizens, who have been turning around and selling it to Gaza. Gaza wants to cut out the middleman and have Egypt sell to them at the same price they are getting the smuggled fuel for. The article also notes that Hamas taxes fuel in Gaza at a whopping 150%.

    April 4, 2012: Ma'an reports that Hamas decides to buy fuel from Israel again.

    May 24, 2012: Gaza is under total blackout, according to reports from Gaza this is the first time there has been no electricity and no generator in the middle of the night. Shifa Hospital is the only thing in Gaza with electricity. COGAT report from same week: "765,687 liters of Heavy-duty diesel for the power plant was delivered this week"

    June 6, 2012: Gaza mysteriously under blackout again, ostensibly due to another "lack of fuel". June 5 COGAT reported sending in 270,000 liters. What happened?

    June 7, 2012: Hamas starts using Qatari fuel.

    June 14, 2012: COGAT reports that from June 7 to June 13, 871,827 liters were sent into Gaza, an average of ~200,000 liters a day (no transfers on Saturday). Israel sent in an average of 200,000-300,000 liters a day also, but Gaza was ridden with blackouts. Not one blackout has been registered since Qatari fuel started being used.

    Conclusion: Looking at the data set above and the timeline of events, we can reach two separate conclusions: Either Qatari fuel is twice as effective as Israeli fuel, which means that we have solved the energy crisis for quite a while, until Qatar runs out of fuel, or that Hamas is willing to have the people in Gaza sit and languish without power for months on end, just to score political points against Israel and get cheaper fuel prices, knowing that Gazan suffering will eventually lead to below the market prices.

    I challenge you to come up with another conclusion that will fit the facts. I dare you to find an answer that doesn't lead to the conclusion that Hamas are scum that won't even look after their own people, forget about actively targeting and killing innocent civilians. I dare you.
    Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

    Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

  • #2
    Originally posted by bigross86 View Post

    I challenge you to come up with another conclusion that will fit the facts. I dare you to find an answer that doesn't lead to the conclusion that Hamas are scum that won't even look after their own people, forget about actively targeting and killing innocent civilians. I dare you.
    Hard to reach any conclusion when all the facts are not known- weather events spiking demand and using up reserves, break downs, maintenance cycles, heat up/cool down cycles, physical damage, theft of fuel supplies, fuel quality/contamination, type of fuel distillate, failure of the plants batteries (as happened in 07), grid overload, grid damage/cascading failure, lack of spare parts....

    Give us more information, give us more facts.

    Gaza Power Strip - IEEE Spectrum

    Rafiq Maliha who is one of the plants managers gives a surprisingly more in-depth view of the plant and the duct tape and bailing wire operations approach they have to use.

    Some days, notes Maliha, the power plant doesn’t even have the fuel needed to provide transportation for its employees, a nightmare for a facility that requires 24-hour support. Other days, something as simple as a faulty temperature sensor can shut down operations, because the plant has no easy way to obtain a new one. ”We managed to survive up till now, but things are becoming more difficult,” says Maliha. ”We try to manage with temporary solutions, but then the temporary becomes permanent, and suddenly you have a complete failure.”

    With its four 24-MW diesel-fueled combustion turbines and two 22-MW steam units, this plant was the longtime dream of Palestinians who wanted to wean Gaza of its total dependence on Israel for power. ”This plant was supposed to cover demand for the whole Gaza Strip,” Maliha explains. But today, only half those turbines are working, and the plant is producing only about 60 out of a potential 140 MW.

    The US $140 million project was troubled from the start. Construction had been under way for barely a year when the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada, began in 2000. Worsening relations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority made any projects more difficult to complete, not to mention risky for private investors. Nor did the situation get any better when the plant began operating in 2002, shortly after one of the initial investors, the notorious U.S.-based energy firm Enron, collapsed.

    Today one of the biggest problems is getting enough fuel. It’s one of the many problems you encounter running a power plant in a war zone. Since 2007, Israel has restricted the amount of fuel it rations to Gaza, leaving the plant to operate at only partial capacity. At one point in 2007, the European Union, which pays for the fuel brought into Gaza, cut off the supply because it was concerned Hamas was skimming money. Deliveries soon resumed, and the plant continues to get the rationed fuel. Under the original blueprint, the plant would have been fueled by natural gas, but today it is still dependent on liquid diesel fuel. ”Everything here is temporary,” Maliha says with a wry laugh. He estimates that the plant, which receives about 2.2 million liters of rationed diesel fuel per week,[zraver- more in 09 than it gets today per BR's figures] needs over twice that amount, about 4.9 million liters [zraver- max 2012 delivers per BR amount to less than 37% capacity], to operate at full capacity. Without fuel, the power plant stops, and when the power plant stops, things start to break. ”Fuel tanks without fuel become rusty, and they’re destroyed,” Maliha says. The storage tanks grow rusty, the rust contaminates the fuel, and the contaminated fuel damages the equipment. Then the turbines shut down, leading to more failures when engineers try to start them up again.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Zravers Article
      Today one of the biggest problems is getting enough fuel. It’s one of the many problems you encounter running a power plant in a war zone. Since 2007, Israel has restricted the amount of fuel it rations to Gaza, leaving the plant to operate at only partial capacity.
      Fuel imports from Israel to Gaza will begin on Wednesday, following an agreement between the governments in Ramallah and Gaza City, officials told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency on Tuesday.

      According to the report, Gaza's power authority has transferred 2 million shekels ($537,000) to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority to pay for the fuel.

      A spokesman for Hamas, Taher al-Nunu, told Ma’an that starting Wednesday, 500,000 liters of fuel will be transferred daily to Gaza's power plant via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

      We hope the officials in Ramallah will implement the agreement on time to end the electricity crisis,” said al-Nunu.

      A spokesman for the PA, Ghassan al-Khatib, confirmed the deal* and said the Ramallah government received payment from the power authority in Gaza and that arrangements were underway to send 415,000 liters of fuel to the region.

      In a statement quoted by Ma’an, al-Khatib said the fuel deliveries would continue if the Gaza power authority continued to send payment.

      Gaza's power plant has shut down four times since February amid critical fuel shortages, after Egypt unexpectedly cut supplies via a network of underground tunnels. Residents have faced power outages of up to 18 hours a day.

      Egypt, which is also experiencing fuel shortages, urged Hamas to import fuel across its border with Israel. Hamas initially refused, citing concerns that Israel would then have the power to block supplies.

      Israel transferred 450 thousand liters of industrial diesel to Gaza on March 23, but the fuel reportedly ran out within 48 hours.

      On Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began transferring emergency supplies of fuel to Gaza.
      Source
      Last edited by Parihaka; 05 Jul 12,, 09:46.
      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

      Leibniz

      Comment


      • #4
        Reuters confimation that the shortage is a result of the P.A., Egypt and Hamas intransigence, not Israel

        Fuel crosses from Israel to ease Gaza fuel crisis | Reuters
        In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

        Leibniz

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Parihaka View Post
          Reuters confimation that the shortage is a result of the P.A., Egypt and Hamas intransigence, not Israel

          Fuel crosses from Israel to ease Gaza fuel crisis | Reuters
          Seems like the PA is not part of the problem but part of the solution. However, the article does not address any of the other problems the plant faces. BR asked for an alternate explanation and it was provided.

          Comment


          • #6
            June 14, 2012: COGAT reports that from June 7 to June 13, 871,827 liters were sent into Gaza, an average of ~200,000 liters a day (no transfers on Saturday). Israel sent in an average of 200,000-300,000 liters a day also, but Gaza was ridden with blackouts. Not one blackout has been registered since Qatari fuel started being used.
            Answer that. What is so special about Qatari fuel that less of it leads to more electricity coming from the same plant?
            Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

            Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
              Answer that. What is so special about Qatari fuel that less of it leads to more electricity coming from the same plant?
              While it sounds a lot it is still 200t/day ~10 trucks.

              How much less is the Qatari oil and is it on top of the Israeli one?
              No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

              To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

              Comment


              • #8
                No, the Qatari fuel is less than what the Israelis were sending over per day, and came instead of Israeli fuel.
                Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by bigross86 View Post
                  Answer that. What is so special about Qatari fuel that less of it leads to more electricity coming from the same plant?
                  How can I answer that when you haven't provided the quality of the distillate? Plus the Qataris are shipping 30 million liters over 90 days= 333,000 liters a day so its actually more not less.

                  Qatari Fuel Flowing into Gaza through Kerem Shalom - Middle East - News - Israel National News

                  Per your earlier sources a tanker holds approx 27- 30,000 liters, which the source above says there is 10-15 of which adds up to the qatari commitment of 333,000l/d.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Z, if you continue to add up numbers on top of each other you can easily reach 1,000 liters per capita :Dancing-Banana:

                    On a serios note, from your link:

                    The transfer of fuel donated by the Qatari government through Egypt is being transferred to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing at a rate of 10-15 tankers trucks – or 130,000 liters of fuel – per day. The transfer began last Thursday and is to continue for three months, in which a total of 30 million liters of diesel fuel will enter Gaza.
                    I guess the quantities were less at the beginning and once the routing got pace it would be higher (something like 1/2mn lt/day). and before 3rd month they will decline.

                    So while the average might look descent (same with Ben's numbers), the daily portion at the beginning is still not enough to fill all the gaps given there was no fuel around and every drop counted.


                    A question, what will happen when Qatari donation will seize?


                    *The numbers also show that one tanker truck holds ~10,000 liters.
                    No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                    To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                      Z, if you continue to add up numbers on top of each other you can easily reach 1,000 liters per capita :Dancing-Banana:

                      On a serios note, from your link:

                      I guess the quantities were less at the beginning and once the routing got pace it would be higher (something like 1/2mn lt/day). and before 3rd month they will decline.

                      So while the average might look descent (same with Ben's numbers), the daily portion at the beginning is still not enough to fill all the gaps given there was no fuel around and every drop counted.


                      A question, what will happen when Qatari donation will seize?


                      *The numbers also show that one tanker truck holds ~10,000 liters.
                      I know BR loves to claim I am an unfairly biased supporter of terrorism who believes that Jews are guilty of blood libel et al ad nauseum but...

                      That 130k l/d is a number that doesn't jive with the rest of the information. When Israel is sending the fuel the daily average for the same number of tankers is 220-300k liters. A quick Google search shows 20-25K liter trucks are the norm- not 10K liter trucks. This leaves 4 options A-the Israeli's are forcing the Qatari fuel to be shipped in smaller trucks, B- Israel lied about how much they were sending into Gaza, C- that number of 123K liters in 10-15 tankers is wrong. D- some other part of the information provided is wrong.

                      C is the obvious choice, a single typo when all other information agrees is a lot easier to swallow than allegations of conspiracy which are required for the other 3 choices.


                      Also with the Kerem Shalom crossing operation already set up there isn't a build up period. Finding a single molecule of Qatari fuel in Gaza will be harder than finding the Higgs Bosun. The fuel gets unloaded into what ever tank farm at one end, and tankers fill up at the other likely with fuel not from Qatar at all, and that has already been sitting in Israeli tanks for some time but so long as its 30 million in and 30 million out no harm no foul. That 30 million liters is about 231,000 barrels worth of oil- only about a 1/4 load for a single suezmax class tanker or about 1/30th of Israel's monthly consumption. Israel is not building a special unloading facility to quarantine the Qatari oil- its going in to the general supply at one end and the tank trucks are drawing an equivalent from the same.


                      Rough rule of thumb- 2 axle= 10,000 liters, 3+ axle or semi combo= 20-35,000 liter, 50-80,000 liters with two trailers.

                      http://www.demotix.com/photo/1141048...en-israel-gaza shows a large semi-trailer combo tanker
                      Last edited by zraver; 06 Jul 12,, 09:27.

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