Senior government officials said Sunday that the fuel terminal between Israel and the Gaza Strip would remain closed only for the duration of an investigation into a deadly terror attack at the site last week, but warned that ongoing attacks on Israelis would endanger the continued delivery of fuel into Gaza.
Two civilian workers were killed Wednesday when terrorists from Gaza infiltrated the Nahal Oz fuel terminal and opened fire. Two of the terrorists were killed by Israeli security forces, and the others fled back into the Strip.
MK Tzachi Hangebi, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told Army Radio on Sunday morning that attacks would lead to the closure of the fuel terminal.
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"Whoever fired on the terminal must not think it will remain open without limits," he said.
He said that Palestinian claims of fuel shortages are nothing more than spin, and also stressed that the terminal is closed "for investigation purposes," and would reopen soon.
"We are not talking about a strategic policy [decision], but of a number of days meant for all the findings to be passed along and a decision made about how best to prevent an attack the likes of which we saw."
The head of the political-defense bureau at the Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, told the radio Sunday that before fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip are renewed, the investigation into the attack must be completed "in order to prevent future attacks."
Gilad said that Israel is ensuring that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but at the same time, "we are dealing with a violent and murderous entity that is aimed at killing Israeli civilians." He added that Israel will transfer fuel and supplies to Gaza when it "sees fit."
A senior security official blamed the Palestinian government for trying to create a fictional fuel shortage crisis in Gaza. "There are hundreds of thousands of liters of diesel fuel in stock in Gaza, but the Palestinians are trying to create the image of a crisis so that they can apply international pressure to Israel and Egypt to open the Rafah crossing."
Israeli officials have in recent days accused Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since a bloody coup last June, of exacerbating the fuel shortages by siphoning off gas for use by militants.
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