The EU resumed fuel shipments to Gaza's main power plant today, a Palestinian official said, after Brussels received assurances revenues would not be diverted to the Hamas group which controls the territory.
Several fuel trucks were seen crossing into the coastal strip at one of Israel 's border posts with Gaza, said the Palestinian Energy Authority's deputy chairman, Kanaan Abaid.
"Now the fuel shipments are entering Gaza and the trucks carrying the shipments are ... heading towards the power plant," he said.
The plant cut off power last week, causing widespread blackouts, after the EU stopped paying for daily fuel shipments made to Gaza by a private Israeli company. Israel supplies most of Gaza's electricity under interim peace accords.
The EU's decision to resume funding for fuel was announced after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said he had given assurances to the EU that his government had no plans to introduce any new taxes on electricity generated by the plant.
Abaid said the shipment of fuel on Wednesday was larger than the usual daily delivery before the EU freeze.
The Islamist group Hamas, shunned by much of the West due to its refusal to recognise Israel and its attacks against it, took over the Gaza Strip in June.
Ever since, Gaza's border crossings with Israel and Egypt have been closed to all but humanitarian supplies, prompting aid groups to warn of a looming crisis.