Once again, there’s no fuel in Gaza. The gas stations have been emptied, cars are stranded, but this time the fury is not directed at Israel but rather at “our brother,” Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Fuel to Gaza is supplied through the Rafah tunnels, usually at much cheaper cost than the prices Israel used to charge for supplying gas to the Strip. Ever since Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza and used the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel as a punitive tool, Hamas decided to cut itself off unilaterally from Israel’s fuel and to replace it with cheap gasoline from Egypt, pumped via makeshift pipes through the tunnels. That decision, as shall soon be made clear, turned out to be a mistake.

At first, everything looked rosy. Instead of $1.50 per liter of gas, Gaza residents got a bargain — barely 50 cents for a liter, and there was much rejoicing. The Egyptian gasoline is not of particularly good quality — the refinement is somewhat crude, but Gaza residents are not picky. Let’s not forget that during Israel’s tight blockade on Gaza (2007-08), some of them filled the gas tanks in their cars with cooking oil, which produced a suffocating white smoke but enabled them to start the engine and drive.

And then the crisis began. The government in Cairo decided that residents of Egypt should have priority in gas supplies, ahead of the Gazans.