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| Back to work. Cab in Gaza Photo: AP
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Gaza replenishes fuel supply, residents pleased
Smuggling tunnels begin to pay off as fuel prices in Strip drop from highs of NIS 7 to NIS 1.5
Ali Waked
Gaza has managed to replenish its fuel supply by using smuggling tunnels from Egypt, and residents of the Strip rejoiced as benzene prices hit a low of just NIS 1.5 (around 40 cents) per liter, after having previously paid up to NIS 7 (around $1.9).
Abu Mohammad, a taxi driver from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya, said the Egyptian fuel was not as good as its Israeli equivalent, but that "when the price is four times less than the Israeli fuel there is no room for complaint or argument about the quality of the fuel".
He said there had been months when he had been unable to start his car for lack of the precious substance. "But recently the problem has disappeared and life from this standpoint has become much easier," Abu Mohammad told Ynet.
"You can work and even go traveling. I take my wife and kids to Rafah and I can work and make money, after recently some people refused to take taxis and preferred to walk whole kilometers."
Fuel has become Gaza's most smuggled substance, a trend which has cost many of its residents their lives in the treacherous tunnels. Sources in the Strip assume Egypt has been turning a blind eye to the phenomenon because it bolsters local trade.
Indeed, Palestinian sources report hundreds of tunnels whose sole purpose is to smuggle fuel. According to many, trucks arrive at the Gazan side of the border and load the barrels in plain daylight.
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