Tel Aviv cuts back on fuel supplies

Israel yesterday said it cut fuel supplies to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, increasing pressure on the group after it seized control of the impoverished territory.

A representative of Palestinian petrol companies said the territory could run out of fuel for cars and cooking within two days.

Dor Alon, a private Israeli fuel company that supplies Gaza, will provide fuel only to Gaza's power stations, Israel's infrastructure ministry said. Fuel will no longer be supplied to smaller petrol stations, a spokeswoman said.

Israeli energy companies provide about half of Gaza's electricity needs at peak hours.

Israel hopes to isolate Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory in less than a week of fierce factional fighting with President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.