GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Political conflicts are impeding solving the various crises in the Gaza Strip, such as the unpaid wages of government employees, the closing of the Rafah crossing and the purchase of industrial fuel for Gaza’s power plant. The consensus government in Ramallah is imposing a tax — dubbed the “blue tax” — on industrial diesel before it is sold in Gaza.

The deputy director of the Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) in the Gaza Strip, Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil, called for the complete cancellation of this tax on the power plant’s diesel, thus allowing the plant to operate for several additional hours. However, President of the Palestinian Petroleum Agency in Ramallah Fuad Shobaki refused this option and said fuel is stored at Gaza’s power plant.

According to the Economic Protocol Agreement, which was signed in Paris in 1994 and incorporated into the Oslo Accord, Israel demanded the price difference of the fuel consumed by Palestinians and that consumed by Israelis not to exceed 15%. Hence, the Palestinian Authority (PA) imposed the blue tax to make up for the difference.

Al-Monitor obtained a list of the value of industrial diesel that was bought from the Palestinian Petroleum Agency, which is affiliated with the consensus government in Ramallah. The price of 1 liter (0.26 gallon) of diesel at the beginning of last year ranged between 5.60 and 5.80 Israeli shekels (around $1.40), reaching 3.80 shekels ($0.90) in November and December.