Gaza power plant begins shutdown

GAZA – Gaza’s main power plant began shutting down yesterday due to a fuel shortage caused by Israel’s closure of the territory’s borders in response to Palestinian rocket attacks.

Kanaan Abeid, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Energy Authority in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, said one of the plant’s two turbines ceased operation in the morning and the second would do so in the evening. “There is no fuel coming in and we have no reserves,” Abeid said, estimating as many as one million people would be affected by the full shutdown.United Nations officials also warned of the impact on daily life in the impoverished Gaza Strip.Israel tightened its closure of the territory on Friday in response to cross-border rocket fire, closing all crossings to even UN humanitarian supplies.The Israeli Defence Ministry said only “humanitarian cases” which receive Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s personal approval will be allowed through.Palestinian militants have been firing rockets daily into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.Israel has stepped up its military response and hopes the reduction in supplies to the territory will pressure Hamas to prevent the launchings.Officials with the European Union, which funds fuel shipments to the Gaza power plant, confirmed that one of the turbines had been shut down and that the plant was now operating at approximately half of its capacity.”After two months of reductions, they’re very low on fuel.It’s only a question of hours,” said a senior EU official involved in the fuel programme.The EU official said the last EU-funded fuel shipment was made on Thursday and that no fuel was allowed in yesterday.According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Gaza’s population ordinarily consumes 200 megawatts of electricity, of which 65 are produced by the local power plant.The rest comes from Israel and Egypt.”It (the power plant shutdown) is going to have a significant impact on the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza,” said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose aid shipments have been turned back.Power outages have become increasingly commonplace in the Gaza Strip in recent months.Israel declared the area a “hostile entity” in September, leading to reductions in the flow of fuel and other supplies.EU-funded fuel to the Gaza power plant has dropped by about 12 per cent as a result of the Israeli cutbacks, officials said.Critics say the fuel reductions amount to illegal “collective punishment” against largely aid-dependent Gaza.Hamas Islamists seized the impoverished coastal territory by force in June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah forces.Nampa-Reuters”There is no fuel coming in and we have no reserves,” Abeid said, estimating as many as one million people would be affected by the full shutdown.United Nations officials also warned of the impact on daily life in the impoverished Gaza Strip.Israel tightened its closure of the territory on Friday in response to cross-border rocket fire, closing all crossings to even UN humanitarian supplies.The Israeli Defence Ministry said only “humanitarian cases” which receive Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s personal approval will be allowed through.Palestinian militants have been firing rockets daily into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.Israel has stepped up its military response and hopes the reduction in supplies to the territory will pressure Hamas to prevent the launchings.Officials with the European Union, which funds fuel shipments to the Gaza power plant, confirmed that one of the turbines had been shut down and that the plant was now operating at approximately half of its capacity.”After two months of reductions, they’re very low on fuel.It’s only a question of hours,” said a senior EU official involved in the fuel programme.The EU official said the last EU-funded fuel shipment was made on Thursday and that no fuel was allowed in yesterday.According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Gaza’s population ordinarily consumes 200 megawatts of electricity, of which 65 are produced by the local power plant.The rest comes from Israel and Egypt.”It (the power plant shutdown) is going to have a significant impact on the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza,” said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose aid shipments have been turned back.Power outages have become increasingly commonplace in the Gaza Strip in recent months.Israel declared the area a “hostile entity” in September, leading to reductions in the flow of fuel and other supplies.EU-funded fuel to the Gaza power plant has dropped by about 12 per cent as a result of the Israeli cutbacks, officials said.Critics say the fuel reductions amount to illegal “collective punishment” against largely aid-dependent Gaza.Hamas Islamists seized the impoverished coastal territory by force in June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s secular Fatah forces.Nampa-Reuters