estern President Hosni Mubarak last year, Cairo has eased restrictions on passenger traffic but has refused to open a cargo route. Instead,http://www.bjzhishang.com/forum/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=2528003, it largely has turned a blind eye to smuggling fuel and other supplies through hundreds of border tunnels. The fuel crisis has its origins in the decision by Hamas, more than a year ago, to use smuggled fuel to run the territory's only power plant instead of paying for more expensive fuel coming through an Israeli cargo crossing. The plant normally provides 60 percent of Gaza's electricity. Several weeks ago, the flow of smuggled Egyptian fuel began to slow: Egypt was itself suffering shortages, and it grew annoyed that Hamas was profiting by imposing tariffs on subsidized fuel meant for Egyptians. The Gaza power plant shut down on Feb. 10 and has been mostly offline since. Depots of fuel for transportation gradually ran low, and major gas stations in Gaza City closed several days ago. In recent days, no smuggled fuel has reached Gaza, traders say. As a result, hospitals say fuel supplies for generators have run dangerously low, endangering hundreds dependent on steady electricity, including premature babies in incubators, kidney patients on dialysis and those in intensive care. Half the ambulances serving Gaza's biggest hospital have been grounded. Most cars are now off the streets, and large crowds fight over the few public taxis. The Gaza Cabinet ordered some 1,800 civil servants with government-issue cars to start picking up hitchhikers. Those with diesel cars have begun pouring used cooking oil into their tanks. Water supplies have dropped sharply because there's not enough fuel to pump it up from wells. Sewage is discharged into the Mediterranean because waste-treatment pumps can't operate,toms shoe store. "The storage in Gaza is zero and within 48 hours,http://2014chunwan.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=454908, we will see a real disaster in terms of health, water and transportation," said Amjad Shawa, who heads a network of Gaza civic groups. Gaza has had fuel problems since the start of the Israeli-Egyptian border blockade. Initially, the EU bought the fuel needed for the Gaza power plant from Israel, which then delivered it through one of its crossings. Eventually, the EU asked the Abbas government to pay for the fuel and get the money back from Hamas. After a standoff, Hamas did make contributions for buying the Israeli fuel before gambling on the cheaper option of smuggled Egyptian fuel. Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ,http://anime-union.org/2008/09/avatar-v-zapisjax.html#comments. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download. By PETER SVENSSON,cheap toms shoes sale, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) Beware the new iPad, not because it's an inferior product, but because it's a superior one. Using one is like living the life of a millionaire for a day, then getting dumped back in your regular life. Your eyes are now opened to how miserable your existence is. The big culprit here is its stunner screen,cheap toms shoes. It has four times the resolution of the previous models. That's a big, b