WHEN Mr Hassan Amin al-Bana gingerly steps on the accelerator of his bright yellow taxi, a strange smell wafts from the exhaust: It is the smell of deep-fried fastfood.
Faced with fuel shortages due to an Israeli blockade and a strike by Palestinian distributors protesting the restrictions, taxi drivers in the Gaza Strip are filling their tanks with cooking oil, reported Reuters.
They often scrounge leftover and used oil from roadside hawkers.
"It's not like driving with diesel. It takes time to get it going in the morning," said Mr Hassan Amin, 40.
"I know it's bad for my car, but I have to pay for food for my kids, so what can I do?"
Gaza City's petrol stations have been deserted for several weeks, but near the taxi depots are stacks of cartons of soya bean cooking oil.
The cooking oil is mixed with petrol, butane - a common fuel for cooking there - or turpentine.
The growing demand for cooking oil also means that many hawkers who sell items like falafel - the fried chick pea snack popular in the Middle East - now do a brisk trade in used oil.
MrYehya Karam, 21, said he sells about 70 cartons a day.
Other hawkers say they give the oilaway.
But a few are less than pleased with the result.
Falafel seller Ahmed al-Beltaji, who started selling his leftover oil to drivers about 10 days ago, said: "It makes the cars smell like a kitchen. You feel likeKFC is following you."
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any bros wanna try...our diesel $$ so expensive mah
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