Gaza protesters warm to Qatar’s diesel

Gift of fuel may curb anger over power shortages

GAZA CITY // Fuel from Qatar arrived in Gaza yesterday, helping to ease a crippling power shortage that has sparked rare protests against the territory’s Hamas rulers, who responded with a clampdown on demonstrations.

Gaza’s power authority said the Qatari-funded diesel would double the amount of power provided to households.

The coastal strip has been ex- periencing the worst electricity shortage in years, limiting Gazans to about four hours of electricity a day. The extra diesel will provide homes with power for about eight hours a day, and Hamas said another ally, Turkey, was expected to supply Gaza with more fuel.

The lack of power has stoked anger and frustration, driving thousands of people to the streets of Gaza last week in protests against Hamas’s failure to solve the crisis.

Hamdi Shaqoura, deputy director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza, said Hamas arrested dozens of people and summoned dozens of others in a effort to prevent more demonstrations, but was unable to confirm the exact number involved.

Hamas has shown little tolerance for dissent since taking control of Gaza in 2007. One protest last week, in the Jebaliya refugee camp, was the largest unauthorised gathering in the coastal strip since the group’s takeover. Other scheduled protests have since been thwarted. Among those arrested was comedian Adel Al Mashwakhi, who made a video lamenting power cuts during the winter season. He remains in prison.

Hamas said it would release all people who were held against a backdrop of “vandalism and sabotaging during the protests against the electricity crisis”.

Life has become increasingly difficult for Gaza’s 2 million residents. Hamas’s takeover of the territory a decade ago triggered a border blockade by Israel and Egypt that sharply aggravated power shortages.

But anti-Hamas protests have been rare. This is in part because of fear – Hamas has routinely clamped down on critics – and because even disgruntled Gazans believe there’s no realistic path to toppling the militants.