Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Tension between Egypt and the Hamas regime has risen amid a
dispute over fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Officials said Cairo assessed that Hamas was preparing for another
confrontation with Egyptian security forces amid rising Palestinian
unrest linked to the Gaza fuel shortage.

They said Hamas planned to send thousands of Palestinians to rush the Gaza border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

“There is a lot of anger against Hamas, and they are trying to blame us for their problems,” an official said.

Israel has been supplying fuel to the Gaza Strip in an effort to ease
the fuel shortage. But officials said Hamas wanted to end dependency on
Israel and instead win Egypt’s agreement to openly supply the Gaza Strip via
the border crossing at Rafah.

Officials said Hamas was trying to provoke a crisis with Egypt. They said Hamas ordered fuel stations to stop selling gasoline and other fuel throughout the Gaza Strip in an effort to increase pressure on Cairo.

The official Egyptian daily Al Ahram reported that Hamas intended to reach Egyptian agreement for the unconditional supply of subsidized fuel to the Gaza Strip. So far, Cairo has limited fuel supplies and raised prices to international levels amid a shortage throughout Egypt.

The fuel crisis has sparked Palestinian criticism against Hamas, which
arrested dozens of suspected critics. Hamas leaders, including Yusef Raska,
adviser to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have blamed Egypt for blocking fuel shipments to the Gaza
Strip in an effort to win political concessions from the Islamist movement.

  Egypt, Gaza fuel shortage ignites tension between Hamas, Gaza Strip fuel supplies, Islamist movement, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Rafah border crossing, Sinai Peninsula