KEY POINTS:
Middle East envoy Tony Blair said yesterday a deal on Palestinian statehood by the end of next year is realistic as life on the Gaza Strip gets more desperate under Israeli sanctions.
Gas stations across Gaza have shut their pumps. Tens of thousands of people have no fresh water.
Hospitals have grounded ambulances, and bicycles are the favoured form of transport a month after Israel restricted fuel shipments to Gaza.
However, former British Prime Minister Blair said in an interview with France24 television: "I think a negotiated settlement is possible in 2008." But "it will take some time for that negotiated settlement to be put in place fully".
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed in Annapolis, Maryland, last week to try to reach a peace treaty creating a Palestinian state by the end of next year, although doubts remain over the plan's viability.
Gaza, though, is a problem for negotiators and under the rule of Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist group.
Seeking to punish Gaza's Hamas rulers further, Israel is waiting for court approval to reduce the electricity supply as well.
The tough measures are the latest in a series of sanctions Israel has imposed since the Islamic militant group violently seized control of Gaza last June.
Israel has declared Gaza a "hostile entity" and closed its borders, halting almost all trade.
Gaza's woes pose a major challenge to Hamas as it clings to power amid renewed peacemaking between Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership now in charge of the West Bank.
While still firmly in control of Gaza, Hamas is casting a long shadow over next week's scheduled launch of formal peace talks following seven years of violence. Olmert and Abbas are expected to meet on December 12 for the first round of talks since they agreed last week to try to broker a deal on Palestinian statehood.
Gaza relies on Israel for all of its fuel and 60 per cent of its electricity.
The fuel reductions, ranging between 15 per cent and 75 per cent of normal supplies, have already affected Gaza's water system. The shortages have been compounded by Gaza's 30 private fuel companies, which halted deliveries this week to protest at the Israeli shortages.
Fed up with the finger-pointing, Gaza's gas station owners this week stopped serving the public, saying they were caught in the middle of political battles involving Israel and the rival Palestinian governments.
"We are the ones who are suffering the beating and the losses," said Mahmoud al-Shawa, a member of Gaza's association of station owners.
"We have lost everything we gained," Hassan Abu Eissa said earlier after a lack of fuel brought the seven-year-old water pump in this central Gaza village of 6000 people to a standstill.
Sabha al-Sawarka, 64, said she sends her grandsons to fill containers with water for domestic chores from a nearby agricultural well because the village pump has stopped operating.
"It is a bit salty, but what can we do?" she said. "One time there is no electricity. Then no water, or no wheat. It can't get more unjust."
The fuel shortage has only amplified the problems caused by the sanctions, which Israel says are in response to near-daily rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants.
With exports and most imports halted, factories have closed, construction has halted and store shelves are empty. Hospitals have drastically cut back ambulance services and transport for medical staff. .
Israel blames Hamas for bringing hardship to Gaza.
- AP
