(10 Apr 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Various of cars waiting to get fuel
2. Driver sitting in car
3. Wide of cars lined up
4. Mid of driver stood next to vehicle
5. Policeman directing traffic
6. Parked car with Palestinian flag on bonnet
7. Close-up of sign reading (Arabic) "Gaza asks the world to save our children, they are dying in our hands. Where are you Muslim brothers?"
8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Name not available, driver:
"I am not ready to have my son injured at midnight and find that there is no ambulance to come and take him because there is no fuel. This is a disgrace for the Arab and Islamic nation."
9. Car driving off
10. Emergency service workers displaying banners (Arabic) "The fuel shortage is obstructing the work of civilian humanitarian workers"
STORYLINE
Gaza's motorists continued to queue for fuel on Tuesday, a day after gas station owners began a strike to protest against Israel's reduced fuel supplies to the territory.
The Gas Station Owners' Association in Gaza on Monday stopped distributing all fuel, hoping to pressure Israel to supply more fuel.
Israel reduced fuel shipments to Gaza several months ago to pressure Palestinian militants to halt rocket fire on Israeli border towns.
The restrictions have disrupted car traffic throughout Gaza and exacerbated the already serious fuel crisis in the seaside strip.
AP Television pictures on Tuesday showed cars lined up in huge queues.
The protest has also affected emergency services, Palestinians say.
One disgruntled resident told AP Television: "I am not ready to have my son injured at midnight and find that there is no ambulance to come and take him because there is no fuel. This is a disgrace for the Arab and Islamic nation."
Gaza's Hamas government rations out fuel by only allowing Gaza residents to take 17 litres (four gallons) at a time.
Israel supplies around 70,000 litres (19,000 gallons) of gasoline a week, eight percent of Gaza's needs, and 800,000 litres (200,000 gallons) of diesel fuel, 30 percent of Gaza's needs, Palestinians charge.
Israeli officials counter that Israel is supplying Gaza with more than enough fuel for its basic needs, but the Islamic Hamas movement is using some of it for its own purposes, including fuel for vehicles that ferry rockets to be fired at Israel.
The Hamas government takes around half of Gaza's reduced supplies for hospitals, municipal services, water wells and sewage pumps, a senior Hamas government official has said.
Protesting the shortages, gas station owners rebelled on Monday, refusing to sell small amounts they have in stock, or to accept future shipments.
Gaza residents are seeking their own solutions. Some drivers pay black market prices for siphoned-off fuel.
Others have turned to bicycles, liquid gas for their cars and homemade fuel recipes to try to deal with the shortage.
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