EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) — About 150 people demonstrated in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Arish on Monday to protest a fuel shortage because of smuggling to the Gaza Strip, a security official said.
"About 150 drivers, farmers and construction workers protested the lack of diesel and petrol due to smuggling to Gaza," the official said.
The demonstrators called on police to crack down on the smuggling, he said, adding that police seized 70,000 litres (18,200 gallons) of fuel in El-Arish which traffickers were intending to smuggle.
Sinai officials told AFP on Saturday that the smuggling to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory has affected fuel supplies in the region.
"Smuggling to Gaza through tunnels has led to a drastic reduction in fuel supplies at petrol stations" in the northern Sinai, said Mohammed Hussein, a senior official of the Sinai regime.
Other local officials said work with agricultural equipment was slowing down because of the shortage of fuel.
The authorities in northern Sinai have over the past month imposed a ban on the sale of fuel in jerry cans except for agricultural purposes, and ordered all petrol stations to close overnight.
Almost 170,000 litres of fuel being readied for shipment to Gaza on the black market was seized last week, officials said.
Israel on Monday allowed some supplies into Gaza amid mounting international concern over the worsening humanitarian situation for the territory's 1.5 million inhabitants, virtually sealed off from the outside world.
Israel's blockade of the territory has led to severe fuel shortages, power cuts and an ever worsening humanitarian situation.
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