JERUSALEM, Oct 28: Israel began restricting fuel shipments to the impoverished and increasingly isolated Gaza Strip on Sunday, ostensibly in retaliation for rocket attacks on its territory, officials said.

Israel reduced the amount of fuel it provides for Gaza’s main power plant from 360,000 litres a day to 273,000, according to an official from the EU, which is responsible for delivering fuel to the facility.

The EU spends an estimated six million euros a month on fuel for the power station, which provides 25-30 per cent of Gaza’s electricity, with the remainder coming mostly from private generators.

Israel reduced the amount of petrol it provides, from 300,000 litres to 213,000 litres, a nearly 30 per cent reduction, said Naharu al-Hismawy, director of Gaza’s main fuel distribution centre.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak gave the green light for the punitive measures on Thursday, but earlier on Sunday Israeli officials had said they would hold off on cuts until later this week.

Since declaring the Hamas-run territory a “hostile entity” last month Israel has been threatening to impose further restrictions on the already isolated coastal strip, including fuel and electricity cuts. “This is the first step we have taken following the decision of the government to consider the Gaza Strip as a hostile entity,” government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said about Sunday’s reductions.

“We took this step in particular because mortars have been falling near the area of the power station... This is the first of many other steps we can take,” she said, adding that she objected to the term “sanctions.”

—AFP