The blockade of fuel and goods to Gaza began Friday, when Israel halted fuel supplies and shut all border crossings with the Palestinian enclave in response to ongoing insurgent rocket attacks from the territory, controlled by Islamist group Hamas.
The move was approved by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as a one-off measure, which only became possible after a drop in the number of Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel.
"We will monitor the situation and then decide on further actions," ministry spokesman Arye Meckel aid, adding that medicine would be allowed through the border along with the fuel.
The Jerusalem Post said that Gaza would receive 2.2 million liters of diesel fuel for its power station in addition to the 140 megawatts of electric power it regularly receives from Egypt and Israel.
The diesel fuel will allow Gaza's only power plant to resume operations after power was cut off to most of the 1.5 million residents, who have been without electricity for three days, triggering the closure of factories and filling stations.
Hospitals and medical institutes will also receive 500,000 liters of fuel for their generators, and 50 trucks will deliver medicine and food to the impoverished enclave.
A Gaza Health Ministry official said on Monday the blackout caused the death of five patients in hospitals the early hours of Monday.
"We have cancelled a lot of operations due to a lack of electricity and fuel oil," said Khaled Radi. "Five people have died as a result. The death toll could rise, if the situation is not changed within the next few hours."
