Gaza's sole power station shut down due to fuel crisis

GAZA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Gaza Strip's only operating power plant was shut down early Thursday due to an acute fuel crisis, a local official said.

Mohammed Thabit, a spokesman of the Gaza Electricity Company, told Xinhua they shut down the last operating turbine at the plant.

More than 2 million people in Gaza have been suffering from an energy crisis since mid-April 2017 due to a dispute over the taxes between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA).

Residents of the besieged enclave generally receive 3-4 hours of electricity a day, delivered by the territory's own power station and others in Israel and Egypt.

The Gaza Strip requires 450 megawatts daily, but it was only receiving around 150 megawatts daily last month.

Gaza's sole power plant, which could supply 60 megawatts, was previously shut down in April after it ran out of fuel. Prior to its shutdown, the PA removed a tax exemption on diesel fuel, doubling the price as a result.

Israel, which supplies 125 megawatts, or 30 percent of the total Gaza' electricity need, decided last month to reduce the power supply by at least 40 percent after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cut electricity funding.

Last week, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that an acute energy crisis in the Gaza Strip is pushing the blocked Palestinian territory into disaster.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza declared two weeks ago that the generators have been turned off in 16 health centers and three main hospitals. Enditem