Palestinians Turn to Gulf States
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Calcalist
by Danny Rubenstein - May 8, 2012 - 12:00am

The joint customs system (or customs union, as it is variously known) established under the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the geographic proximity and the obstacles impeding [Palestinian] exports to foreign countries are the factors due to which most of the Palestinian foreign trade is conducted with Israel. However, in recent years, things seem to have changed.

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Blame game defers solution to Gaza's energy crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from IRIN
May 2, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (IRIN) -- From factories to the fishing industry, the Gaza Strip economy is being affected by more than two months of fuel shortages and power outages, taking a toll on the livelihoods of its 1.6 million inhabitants. To make a living on the sea, Madlene Kollab needs 20 liters of fuel each day. Unable to afford that, the Gaza Strip's only fisherwoman has seen her catch halve to just 1.5 kilos per day.

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Israel Detains Gaza Fishermen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 25, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Tuesday detained fishermen working off the coast of the Gaza Strip. Local official Mahfouth al-Kabareeti told Ma'an that Israeli naval forces detained Nader Yousef Abu Simaan, 22, and his brother Hasan at sea and confiscated their equipment. The brothers, from al-Shati refugee camp, were fishing within the area designated by Israel, he added. An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces detained fishermen from Gaza because they deviated from the designated fishing area.

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Palestinian Authority blames Gaza for deficit mess
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 12, 2012 - 12:00am

Paying for the upkeep of the Gaza Strip while its political rival actively blocks revenues flowing back is taking its toll on the deficit-racked Palestinian Authority. A barrage of mutual accusations in recent weeks has driven Hamas and Fatah ever further apart as stalled efforts at reconciliation and economic stagnation have jangled nerves on both sides. Crippling power cuts in the small coastal enclave have only added to the acrimony and lifted the lid on often opaque Palestinian funding.

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Hamas Accuses Egypt of Blocking Qatari Fuel Supplies to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 10, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Hamas government on Tuesday accused Egypt of blocking a Qatari ship, loaded with fuel for the only power plant in the Gaza Strip, of delivering its shipment to the Palestinian enclave. "Some Egyptian sides insist to prevent the Qatari fuel from coming to Gaza," said Mohammed Awad, Hamas' foreign minister. "We negotiate with Egyptian authorities to bring in the fuel to Gaza when the ship docks in Egypt." Last week, Hamas authorities said that Qatar would send 25 tons of diesel to Gaza's power plant, which suffers frequent shut-downs.

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3 Gaza children burned to death due to energy crisis, Hamas blames Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Monday held Israel responsible for the death of three children from central Gaza Strip, who were burned to death on Sunday night, when a candle ignited their room as they were sleeping amid a severe crisis of electricity and fuel in the coastal enclave. Ismail Haneya, the deposed premier of Hamas rule in the enclave, who participated in the funeral of the three children from the town of Deir el-Ballah, told reporters that Israel, which keeps a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip, is responsible in the first place for the tragedy.

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A country of walls: an interview with Talal Okal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

BI: What do the conditions in the Sinai peninsula have to do with you and others in the Gaza Strip? Okal: The border that separates Sinai in Egypt and the Gaza Strip is the only border that is open for our use. The town of Rafah [where the main crossing is located] is actually split across the border between the two sides and many of Egyptian Rafah's residents are relatives of those who live on the Gaza side of the town. The connections there are extensive. Moreover, the tunnel network operating out of Gaza opens onto the Sinai.

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Small Amounts of Israeli Fuel Entering Gaza, Only Barely Easing Power Crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 23, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Small amounts of Israeli fuel were trucked into the Gaza Strip on Friday, slightly easing an energy crisis provoked by a cut-off of Egyptian fuel, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The shipment however did not meet Gaza’s total energy needs for even one day, one official said, and the territory still lacks a reliable fuel supply. Gaza’s fuel pinch highlights the difficulties its cash-strapped, internationally isolated Hamas rulers face in administering the territory.

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Egypt-Hamas standoff leads to Gaza power crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - March 22, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A dispute between Egypt and Gaza's Hamas government has produced the worst energy crisis here in years: Gazans are enduring 18-hour-a-day blackouts, fuel is running low for hospital backup generators, raw sewage pours into the Mediterranean Sea for lack of treatment pumps and gas stations have shut down. The fuel and electricity shortages, which have escalated over the past two months, are infuriating long-suffering Gazans who say their basic needs, perhaps more than ever, are being sacrificed for politics.

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PA 'spent $7 billion' in Gaza since split
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 21, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority has spent over $7 billion in Gaza since 2007, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf said Wednesday. The Fatah-led government in Ramallah has continued to meet its obligations in Gaza even though Fatah was ousted from the coastal enclave by Hamas in 2007, Assaf said in a statement. The PA spends around $120 million each month on the Gaza Strip, paying the salaries of around 80,000 civil servants, the Fatah official said.

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