Gaza City  - The Palestinian gas union on Saturday rejected a statement by an Israeli official blaming Palestinians, led by Hamas, for the fuel shortages in Gaza Strip.

Nir Press, the head of the Israel Defence Forces' Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration said Friday that "the Palestinians, led by the Hamas organization, are creating shortages, misery and disaster."

Mahmoud al-Khozendar, vice-president of the Petrol Station Owners Association in Gaza, disagreed, saying the existing fuel supplies had been accumulated over weeks and were "enough for one day in a normal situation" and would last just three hours "given the current crisis."

Al-Khozendar said Palestinian depots were at present stocked with 720,000 litres of diesel and 188,000 litres of benzene.

Since April 6, Israel has limited fuel supplies to Gaza to 300 tons of cooking gas, enough for one normal day, and 2 million litres of industrial diesel for the Gaza power plant, al-Khozendar said. (dpa)