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Israel cuts power to West Bank's Bethlehem over debt

Xinhua, April 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

Israel's state-owned electric company cut power to vast areas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to press for payment of unpaid bills on Monday, the company said.

A statement by the company said the power to Bethlehem was reduced by half between 14:00 and 18:00 (1100-1500 GMT). A similar measure was taken against Jericho on Sunday, the company said.

"The Electric Company's management decided to run a series of daily power restrictions for two weeks to reduce the growth of the debt and to find a permanent solution," the statement read.

Israel charges that the Palestinian National Authority has a debt of about 1.74 billion shekels (about 460 million U.S. dollars) for unpaid electricity bills.

Palestinians in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War, are largely dependents on Israel for electricity.

Last year, Israel reduced the power supply for the West Bank over the debt. The Palestinians condemn the power cuts as a collective punishment. Endit