Israel suspended fuel deliveries to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a mortar fired by Palestinian militants struck the territory's only fuel depot, wounding a Palestinian worker. "Fuel deliveries were frozen after the mortar hit," said Gil Karie, a spokesman for the Israeli District Coordination Office, which oversees deliveries to Gaza, adding, "They are checking the situation. We don't know yet if it will open again today, or at what time."
Deliveries of European Union-funded fuel to Gaza's sole power station were not affected by the freeze at the Nahal Oz depot because no deliveries had been scheduled for Wednesday, said a EU official. Israel has reduced fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip since Hamas Islamists seized the coastal territory in June 2007. Israel has suspended fuel deliveries in the past after militant attacks. |