Ramallah decries ‘uncoordinated’ fuel shipments to Gaza

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Ramallah on Tuesday criticized the ongoing provision of aid to blockaded Gaza -- especially fuel -- without coordination with the Palestinian government, saying the arrangement promoted “Palestinian division”.

The assertion came in a statement issued following a weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah, the Palestinian government’s administrative capital.

The government also criticized the international community -- including the U.S. administration -- for approving the transfer of aid to Gaza and the implementation of humanitarian projects in the blockaded coastal enclave.

“The dispatch of aid to Gaza -- in the absence of coordination with the Palestinian government -- is aimed at deepening the existing rift between the West Bank and Gaza,” the statement read.

Ramallah also condemned recent threats by Israel to reallocate some of the Palestinian tax revenue it collects (on behalf of the Palestinian government) to cash-strapped Gaza.

“Israel’s theft and piracy aimed at further cementing the rift between the [Hamas-controlled] Gaza Strip and the [government-run] West Bank,” the government statement read.

Over the course of the last week, Israel has allowed several Qatar-funded fuel shipments into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.

Last Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the fuel shipments halted after Palestinians staged angry protests along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone during which seven protesters were killed by Israeli army gunfire.