File photo
Two fuel-laden trucks entered the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday from Israel via the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.
According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent at the scene, the trucks were seen heading towards Gaza’s sole functioning electricity plant.
While Palestinian officials have been tight-lipped regarding the source of the fuel, Al Jazeera reported earlier that it had been provided by Qatar.
Last week, Israeli daily Haaretz reported that a deal had been struck with Qatar regarding means of funding fuel procurements for Gaza.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade that has deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of several vital commodities, including food, fuel and medicine.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call on Tuesday from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to brief him on her talks in Israel last week, according to the official Wafa news agency.Merkel met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week for talks on bilateral relations. She, however, did not visit Ramallah during her two-day visit.During the phone contact, the German Chancellor reiterated the support of Germany and the EU for the two-state solution and voiced her concern over the situation in the Gaza Strip, Wafa said.Merkel said the EU was continuing its financial support to UN refugee agency UNRWA to maintain its role in helping Palestinian refugees.In September, the U.S. State Department announced that Washington would “no longer commit funding” to UNRWA.The U.S. had been UNRWA's largest contributor by far, providing it with $350 million annually -- roughly one quarter of the agency's overall budget.Established in 1949, UNRWA provides critical aid to Palestinian refugees in the blockaded Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.Abbas, for his part, underlined his commitment to peace negotiations based on the two-state solution and UN resolutions, according to Wafa.U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed in 2014 over the latter’s refusal to halt settlement building in the occupied West Bank.Last December, U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, triggering world outcry.Ever since, the Palestinian Authority has rejected any U.S. mediation in peace talks with Israel.Jerusalem remains at the heart of the Middle East conflict, with Palestinians hoping that East Jerusalem -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- might eventually serve as the capital of an independent Palestinian state.Merkel's conservatives rule out working with Germany's far-right AfDMerkel offers qualified support for 'Jewish state'
Merkel briefs Palestinian leader on her talks in Israel
The Israeli authorities have ratcheted up security measures on Palestinian laborers who work at the Barkan settlement in the occupied West Bank.On Sunday, two Israeli settlers were killed and a third was injured in a shooting attack inside an industrial zone near the Jewish-only Barkan settlement.Laborers who spoke to Anadolu Agency on Tuesday said they now had to undergo hours-long searches when going to work at Israeli factories located in the settlement."Before the shooting [on Sunday], we would enter [Barkan] in 15 minutes; now I have to wait at the entrance of the industrial zone for an hour and a half before I can to get to work," Muayed Amer, a Palestinian laborer, told Anadolu Agency.378 Palestinians detained in September: Advocacy groupsLaborer Mohamed Hassan, for his part, said workers were now forced to wait “for hours” -- even though they had work permits -- until being allowed to enter their places of employment on the settlement.Following Sunday’s shooting, the assailant -- a former Palestinian worker from the West Bank city of Tulkarm -- managed to flee the scene and is now the target of a manhunt by police. Israel wants ‘public apology’ to allow US student inUNRWA slams Israeli plans to close Jerusalem office
Israel tightens security on Palestinian West Bank workers
The Israeli army detained a total of 378 Palestinians last month, including 10 women and 52 children, according to three Palestinian advocacy groups.During September, 104 Palestinians were detained in Jerusalem; 56 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh (in the central West Bank); 73 in Hebron (southern West Bank); and 16 in the Gaza Strip, according to a joint statement released Tuesday by the Commission for Prisoners and ex-Prisoners' Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, and the Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights.The remainder were arrested in different cities throughout the Israeli-occupied West Bank.Israel wants ‘public apology’ to allow US student inThe statement also pointed out that the Israeli authorities had issued 38 “administrative detention” orders over the same period.Under Israel’s longstanding policy of administrative detention, suspects can be held indefinitely without trial or charge.The three advocacy groups went on to put the number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails at some 6,000, including 430 in administrative detention.This number also includes 52 women and 200 minors, according to the three groups’ joint statement.UNRWA slams Israeli plans to close Jerusalem office
378 Palestinians detained in September: Advocacy groups