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.
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.
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