13 july 2017
Two million Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave of Gaza are left with only two hours of electricity a day after Israel and Egypt trimmed down their power supplies to the enclave.
Gaza’s Power Distribution Company said that deficit rate has gone up to 85% and that 70 megawatts only are available, out of 600 megawatts needed by the enclave.
The company added that an emergency distribution program has been opted for to monitor power consumption in Gaza which has been reduced to as little as two hours a day.
The company raised concerns of rising tensions and a collapse of vital services in an impoverished and overcrowded territory that has been devastated by three Israeli offensives since 2008. It further warned of the ecological and humanitarian upshots of the crisis.
The company urged the international communities and the UN bodies, among all other concerned institutions, to take urgent action regarding the crisis and to immediately work on providing the enclave with the energy supplies necessary for the survival of two million residents.
Gaza’s Power Distribution Company said that deficit rate has gone up to 85% and that 70 megawatts only are available, out of 600 megawatts needed by the enclave.
The company added that an emergency distribution program has been opted for to monitor power consumption in Gaza which has been reduced to as little as two hours a day.
The company raised concerns of rising tensions and a collapse of vital services in an impoverished and overcrowded territory that has been devastated by three Israeli offensives since 2008. It further warned of the ecological and humanitarian upshots of the crisis.
The company urged the international communities and the UN bodies, among all other concerned institutions, to take urgent action regarding the crisis and to immediately work on providing the enclave with the energy supplies necessary for the survival of two million residents.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza on Thursday announced the death of a girl child following failed attempts to obtain a medical referral from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah for her treatment in a hospital outside the besieged enclave.
A spokesman for the ministry said that three-year-old Yara Bakhit was suffering from a medical problem in the heart.
He said the child was a victim of the PA’s recent decision to deprive Gaza patients of medical referrals, noting that this measure already led to the death of 15 patients since the start of 2017.
A few days ago, the health ministry in Gaza warned that more citizens with serious medical problems could die after the PA decided to stop giving medical referrals for patients from the impoverished and beleaguered territory.
A spokesman for the ministry said that three-year-old Yara Bakhit was suffering from a medical problem in the heart.
He said the child was a victim of the PA’s recent decision to deprive Gaza patients of medical referrals, noting that this measure already led to the death of 15 patients since the start of 2017.
A few days ago, the health ministry in Gaza warned that more citizens with serious medical problems could die after the PA decided to stop giving medical referrals for patients from the impoverished and beleaguered territory.
Seven UN rapporteurs on Wednesday called upon the international community to pay attention to the humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip and appealed to the besieging parties to immediately end their mass punitive measure against the population, especially with regard to electricity.
“The two million residents of Gaza are suffering through a humanitarian crisis that is entirely human-made,” the rapporteurs said in a statement. “It represents a complete failure of all parties to uphold their fundamental human rights obligations, including the inalienable right to life.”
“Reports indicate that electricity is now available for six consecutive hours at the most, often less, followed by 12 hour periods of blackout. The situation is untenable,” they warned.
The experts said Israel’s recent implementation of a decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to further reduce electricity supplies by up to 40 percent was leading to an unprecedented deterioration in the provision of critical services.
Israel, as the occupying power controlling the entry and exit of goods and people, bore the primary responsibility for the deterioration of the situation, they said, and should honor its commitments under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
The rapporteurs expressed their belief, however, that the current dispute between the PA and Hamas over fuel taxes imposed by the former led to the recent additional cuts, and has contributed to significantly worsening the crisis.
They called on the international community not to turn a blind eye to Gaza and demanded a full and immediate end to the 10-year blockade and closure, which, they said, “amounts to collective punishment contrary to international law.”
Fuel recently supplied by Egypt had provided some relief, but was not a permanent solution, the experts added, warning that the current electricity crisis affected health services and almost every aspect of daily life.
“Many operating rooms have now been shut down, basic health services have been drastically cut and complex diagnostic equipment and interventions are available only intermittently,” they said.
The experts noted that drinkable desalinated water is becoming less and less available, while untreated sewage continues to be dumped into the Mediterranean at the rate of 100 million liters a day and is possibly worsening aquifer contamination.
“Families are struggling to safely store and prepare food without refrigeration, a recipe for disaster when combined with the weakened health services. Cooking, heating and lighting, and other fundamentals of the right to housing are jeopardized. People with disabilities, older people and women are being hit especially hard,” they said.
“The agricultural sector is also suffering severely limited irrigation, which will worsen widespread food insecurity if the situation continues.”
According to them, the power crisis largely increased the suffering of the population, who has already endured years of struggle, poverty and military attacks.
“This current crisis only compounds the residents’ fast-growing sense of despair and hopelessness,” they said warning that after 10 years of closure and blockade, Gaza is living with one of the world’s highest unemployment rates, economic stagnation, and a backwards march towards ‘de-development’.
“This crippling crisis has been imposed on people whose livelihoods were already at breaking point. The economy may now face damage beyond the point of revival. As in any crisis like this, the poorest and most vulnerable suffer the most,” the human rights experts stressed.
For its part, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, based in Geneva, welcomed the statement that was issued by the UN rapporteurs and stressed the need for all parties to spare civilians the consequences of political differences.
The monitor warned the concerned parties, especially Israel, of turning their back to the rapporteurs’ position and called for unified international action putting an end to the suffering of the population in Gaza.
The statement was released by the following UN experts:
Michael Lynk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
Dainius Puras, special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (right to health).
Leilani Farha, special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination.
Hilal Elver, special rapporteur on the right to food.
Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Leo Heller, special rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Saad al-fararji, special rapporteur on the right to development.
“The two million residents of Gaza are suffering through a humanitarian crisis that is entirely human-made,” the rapporteurs said in a statement. “It represents a complete failure of all parties to uphold their fundamental human rights obligations, including the inalienable right to life.”
“Reports indicate that electricity is now available for six consecutive hours at the most, often less, followed by 12 hour periods of blackout. The situation is untenable,” they warned.
The experts said Israel’s recent implementation of a decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to further reduce electricity supplies by up to 40 percent was leading to an unprecedented deterioration in the provision of critical services.
Israel, as the occupying power controlling the entry and exit of goods and people, bore the primary responsibility for the deterioration of the situation, they said, and should honor its commitments under international humanitarian law and human rights law.
The rapporteurs expressed their belief, however, that the current dispute between the PA and Hamas over fuel taxes imposed by the former led to the recent additional cuts, and has contributed to significantly worsening the crisis.
They called on the international community not to turn a blind eye to Gaza and demanded a full and immediate end to the 10-year blockade and closure, which, they said, “amounts to collective punishment contrary to international law.”
Fuel recently supplied by Egypt had provided some relief, but was not a permanent solution, the experts added, warning that the current electricity crisis affected health services and almost every aspect of daily life.
“Many operating rooms have now been shut down, basic health services have been drastically cut and complex diagnostic equipment and interventions are available only intermittently,” they said.
The experts noted that drinkable desalinated water is becoming less and less available, while untreated sewage continues to be dumped into the Mediterranean at the rate of 100 million liters a day and is possibly worsening aquifer contamination.
“Families are struggling to safely store and prepare food without refrigeration, a recipe for disaster when combined with the weakened health services. Cooking, heating and lighting, and other fundamentals of the right to housing are jeopardized. People with disabilities, older people and women are being hit especially hard,” they said.
“The agricultural sector is also suffering severely limited irrigation, which will worsen widespread food insecurity if the situation continues.”
According to them, the power crisis largely increased the suffering of the population, who has already endured years of struggle, poverty and military attacks.
“This current crisis only compounds the residents’ fast-growing sense of despair and hopelessness,” they said warning that after 10 years of closure and blockade, Gaza is living with one of the world’s highest unemployment rates, economic stagnation, and a backwards march towards ‘de-development’.
“This crippling crisis has been imposed on people whose livelihoods were already at breaking point. The economy may now face damage beyond the point of revival. As in any crisis like this, the poorest and most vulnerable suffer the most,” the human rights experts stressed.
For its part, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, based in Geneva, welcomed the statement that was issued by the UN rapporteurs and stressed the need for all parties to spare civilians the consequences of political differences.
The monitor warned the concerned parties, especially Israel, of turning their back to the rapporteurs’ position and called for unified international action putting an end to the suffering of the population in Gaza.
The statement was released by the following UN experts:
Michael Lynk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
Dainius Puras, special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (right to health).
Leilani Farha, special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination.
Hilal Elver, special rapporteur on the right to food.
Philip Alston, special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Leo Heller, special rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Saad al-fararji, special rapporteur on the right to development.
12 july 2017
The Palestinian telecom company, Paltel, announced on Tuesday that it suspended its phone and internet services in large areas of Gaza after the main generator of its headquarters overheated and broke down.
According to Paltel, tens of thousands of land-line customers and some 8,000 internet users have been cut off, and those numbers could rise.
The current power crisis in Gaza has led the company to largely depend on generators to overcome long hours of electricity outages.
The company’s technicians could carry out urgent repairs, but they lack spare parts which Israel will not allow into the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to Paltel, tens of thousands of land-line customers and some 8,000 internet users have been cut off, and those numbers could rise.
The current power crisis in Gaza has led the company to largely depend on generators to overcome long hours of electricity outages.
The company’s technicians could carry out urgent repairs, but they lack spare parts which Israel will not allow into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers invaded, Wednesday, the al-Jisir area, between Jabal al-Mokabber and Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and demolished storage rooms and a car-wash facility, owned by Mousa Obeidat, and abducted one Palestinian after shooting him.
The soldiers invaded the facilities and demolished them, under the pretext of being constructed without a permit from the Jerusalem City Council.
Many Palestinians protested the invasion and the demolitions, before the soldiers shot a young man, identified as Ali Ziad Odah, with a rubber-coated steel bullet in his leg, and abducted him, after repeatedly assaulting him.
The soldiers invaded the facilities and demolished them, under the pretext of being constructed without a permit from the Jerusalem City Council.
Many Palestinians protested the invasion and the demolitions, before the soldiers shot a young man, identified as Ali Ziad Odah, with a rubber-coated steel bullet in his leg, and abducted him, after repeatedly assaulting him.
Most of the projections for 2020, on the situation in the Gaza Strip, have deteriorated further and faster than anticipated in 2012, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Real GDP per capita in Gaza has decreased, the provision of health services has continued to decline, and the demand for additional health clinics, doctors, and hospital beds has not been met, it said.
The UN Country Team in the occupied Palestinian territory, Tuesday, released a report that reviews the socio-economic status of the Gaza Strip, a decade after the events of 2006-2007 which saw the take-over of the Strip by Hamas, the enforcement of strict closures by Israel and the administrative separation of Gaza from the West Bank.
The new report, ‘Gaza – 10 years later’ takes stock of some of the key indicators identified in an earlier 2012 UN report which predicted Gaza would become ‘unlivable’ by 2020, unless underlying trends were reversed.
Thanks in large part to the scale of UNRWA’s services, Gaza has maintained high education standards, but average daily classroom time for students remains as low as four hours.
While an earlier projection that the coastal aquifer would become unusable by 2016 has been revised to the end of 2017, Gaza’s only water source is predicted to be irreversibly-depleted by 2020, unless immediate remedial action is taken.
Huge reconstruction needs provoked by the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza triggered increased imports of construction material to Gaza, particularly through the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). However, access to material necessary to allow the Gazan economy, infrastructure and basic services to recover and expand remains highly restricted, according to WAF.
With the electricity supply reaching as low as 90MW, in recent days, (against demand in excess of 450MW), energy is the most visible recent deterioration in living conditions in Gaza but this comes on top of a host of other chronic and acute problems that have become part of ‘normal’ life.
“Gaza has continued on its trajectory of de-development, in many cases even faster than we had originally projected,” said Robert Piper, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities. “Ongoing humanitarian assistance especially through UNRWA’s services, are helping slow this descent, but the downward direction remains clear.”
UN and non-governmental organizations conducted, on Monday, a field visit to the Gaza Strip with nine members of the diplomatic community from Australia, Canada, the EU, Germany, Turkey, and the UK, to witness first-hand the cumulative impact of ten years of closures and internal divide.
The visit highlighted the impact of the restrictions on access to basic services, freedom of movement and economic development on the lives and livelihoods of Gaza’s two million residents.
The delegation listened to members of the Gaza fishing community describing their struggle to maintain their livelihoods in access restricted areas.
A visit to Shuja’eyya, one of the areas worst hit during the 2014 armed hostilities, highlighted the significant progress achieved over three years of housing-reconstruction but also the long-term social and psychological scars left by the fighting on families.
See archive IMEMC video: Gaza City’s Devastated Al-Shuja’eyya Suburb
A stop at the desalination plant in Deir al Balah illustrated the chronic challenges of water and energy. A visit to the UNRWA ‘Gaza Gateway’ initiative showcased the creativity and innovation of some of Gaza’s young entrepreneurs.
The report calls on Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the international community to take action towards more sustainable development investments, reinvigoration of Gaza’s productive sectors, improvement of freedom of movement for both people and goods, as well as respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
“The alternative” warned Piper, “will be a Gaza that is more isolated and more desperate. The threat of a renewed, more devastating escalation will increase, and the prospects for intra-Palestinian reconciliation will dwindle – and with them, the prospects for peace between Israel and Palestine.”
07/11/17 Gaza Siege: Lack of Electricity and Medical Supplies Markedly Severe
Real GDP per capita in Gaza has decreased, the provision of health services has continued to decline, and the demand for additional health clinics, doctors, and hospital beds has not been met, it said.
The UN Country Team in the occupied Palestinian territory, Tuesday, released a report that reviews the socio-economic status of the Gaza Strip, a decade after the events of 2006-2007 which saw the take-over of the Strip by Hamas, the enforcement of strict closures by Israel and the administrative separation of Gaza from the West Bank.
The new report, ‘Gaza – 10 years later’ takes stock of some of the key indicators identified in an earlier 2012 UN report which predicted Gaza would become ‘unlivable’ by 2020, unless underlying trends were reversed.
Thanks in large part to the scale of UNRWA’s services, Gaza has maintained high education standards, but average daily classroom time for students remains as low as four hours.
While an earlier projection that the coastal aquifer would become unusable by 2016 has been revised to the end of 2017, Gaza’s only water source is predicted to be irreversibly-depleted by 2020, unless immediate remedial action is taken.
Huge reconstruction needs provoked by the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza triggered increased imports of construction material to Gaza, particularly through the temporary Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). However, access to material necessary to allow the Gazan economy, infrastructure and basic services to recover and expand remains highly restricted, according to WAF.
With the electricity supply reaching as low as 90MW, in recent days, (against demand in excess of 450MW), energy is the most visible recent deterioration in living conditions in Gaza but this comes on top of a host of other chronic and acute problems that have become part of ‘normal’ life.
“Gaza has continued on its trajectory of de-development, in many cases even faster than we had originally projected,” said Robert Piper, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities. “Ongoing humanitarian assistance especially through UNRWA’s services, are helping slow this descent, but the downward direction remains clear.”
UN and non-governmental organizations conducted, on Monday, a field visit to the Gaza Strip with nine members of the diplomatic community from Australia, Canada, the EU, Germany, Turkey, and the UK, to witness first-hand the cumulative impact of ten years of closures and internal divide.
The visit highlighted the impact of the restrictions on access to basic services, freedom of movement and economic development on the lives and livelihoods of Gaza’s two million residents.
The delegation listened to members of the Gaza fishing community describing their struggle to maintain their livelihoods in access restricted areas.
A visit to Shuja’eyya, one of the areas worst hit during the 2014 armed hostilities, highlighted the significant progress achieved over three years of housing-reconstruction but also the long-term social and psychological scars left by the fighting on families.
See archive IMEMC video: Gaza City’s Devastated Al-Shuja’eyya Suburb
A stop at the desalination plant in Deir al Balah illustrated the chronic challenges of water and energy. A visit to the UNRWA ‘Gaza Gateway’ initiative showcased the creativity and innovation of some of Gaza’s young entrepreneurs.
The report calls on Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the international community to take action towards more sustainable development investments, reinvigoration of Gaza’s productive sectors, improvement of freedom of movement for both people and goods, as well as respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.
“The alternative” warned Piper, “will be a Gaza that is more isolated and more desperate. The threat of a renewed, more devastating escalation will increase, and the prospects for intra-Palestinian reconciliation will dwindle – and with them, the prospects for peace between Israel and Palestine.”
07/11/17 Gaza Siege: Lack of Electricity and Medical Supplies Markedly Severe
11 july 2017
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nikolay Mladenov, said on Tuesday that strenuous efforts are underway with various parties to find a solution to the power crisis in Gaza.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Qatari ambassador to Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, Mladenov expressed his pleasure to work with Qatar, stressing the need to work to stop the serious deterioration in the living conditions of the Gazan people.
Mladenov added that Gaza needs full support by all parties, especially Egypt, welcoming the Egyptian fuel supplied recently to Gaza's sole power plant and affirming, however, that this action alone is not enough.
He warned that Gaza might be uninhabitable by 2020 if the situation remains as it is.
For his part, ambassador Emadi said that despite the crisis in Qatar, it will continue to support the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.
He pointed out that Qatar will launch new projects in Gaza and continue the ones which are already underway.
On the sidelines of the conference, Emadi signed contracts for new Qatari-funded projects in Gaza, including the construction of 8 residential buildings.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Qatari ambassador to Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, Mladenov expressed his pleasure to work with Qatar, stressing the need to work to stop the serious deterioration in the living conditions of the Gazan people.
Mladenov added that Gaza needs full support by all parties, especially Egypt, welcoming the Egyptian fuel supplied recently to Gaza's sole power plant and affirming, however, that this action alone is not enough.
He warned that Gaza might be uninhabitable by 2020 if the situation remains as it is.
For his part, ambassador Emadi said that despite the crisis in Qatar, it will continue to support the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip.
He pointed out that Qatar will launch new projects in Gaza and continue the ones which are already underway.
On the sidelines of the conference, Emadi signed contracts for new Qatari-funded projects in Gaza, including the construction of 8 residential buildings.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers and police officers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, the al-‘Eesawiyya village, in occupied East Jerusalem, and demolished a four-story apartment building, which also includes two warehouses, that were built by a Palestinian family on their own land.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the soldiers surrounded the building, consisting of six apartments, and two warehouses, and demolished it.
The building, and the warehouses, are owned by members of Mahmoud family in al-‘Eesawiyya, and was constructed a year ago, on 800 square meters of land.
The family said that the soldiers previously photographed the building, before the City Council issued an order for demolishing it, under the pretext of being built without a permit.
The family hired a lawyer who was filed appeals against the demolition orders, and started the paperwork to obtain the needed permits for the building.
The case was supposed to be discussed in a hearing that with the local court of the Jerusalem City Council, which was scheduled for today, but the soldiers demolished the building, just hours before the hearing was to take place.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the soldiers surrounded the building, consisting of six apartments, and two warehouses, and demolished it.
The building, and the warehouses, are owned by members of Mahmoud family in al-‘Eesawiyya, and was constructed a year ago, on 800 square meters of land.
The family said that the soldiers previously photographed the building, before the City Council issued an order for demolishing it, under the pretext of being built without a permit.
The family hired a lawyer who was filed appeals against the demolition orders, and started the paperwork to obtain the needed permits for the building.
The case was supposed to be discussed in a hearing that with the local court of the Jerusalem City Council, which was scheduled for today, but the soldiers demolished the building, just hours before the hearing was to take place.
10 july 2017
The Palestinian Energy Authority declared Monday that a second generator has started operating at the power plant after the Egyptian fuel shipments into the Gaza Strip resumed late Sunday.
The Authority explained in a brief statement issued Monday morning that the power plant’s deficit has exceeded 75% after Israel’s reduction of its electricity supplies to Gaza and the frequent disruptions on the Egypt lines feeding the besieged Strip.
The statement pointed out that efforts were being exerted to provide power for the Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.
Earlier Sunday, the Authority warned of serious and unprecedented repercussions on basic services due to the lack of electricity, saying the power crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip is at its worst level with no clear electricity schedule and with only two hours of electricity provided for most houses per day.
The Authority explained in a brief statement issued Monday morning that the power plant’s deficit has exceeded 75% after Israel’s reduction of its electricity supplies to Gaza and the frequent disruptions on the Egypt lines feeding the besieged Strip.
The statement pointed out that efforts were being exerted to provide power for the Strip, which is home to more than two million Palestinians.
Earlier Sunday, the Authority warned of serious and unprecedented repercussions on basic services due to the lack of electricity, saying the power crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip is at its worst level with no clear electricity schedule and with only two hours of electricity provided for most houses per day.
Governor of Jenin Ibrahim Ramadan, Sunday, announced that the newly established power plant in the village of al-Jalameh will be operated for the first time on Monday.
The inauguration of the power plant, which is going to be attended by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, will take place after the signing of the interim agreement to buy power for the plant from the Israeli representative of the regional electric company.
Ramadan said, according to WAFA, that this plant is the first high-pressure plant ever used in Jenin. “It is part of the project to build four plants in the center, north and south of the occupied West Bank, which were built in the cities of Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus.”
“It is also part of a comprehensive project to boost the energy sector in Palestine and ensure that it meets consumers’ growing needs.”
With the operation of this plant, the Palestinian National Electricity Company will be able to import electricity of high pressure from its producers and sell it in accordance with the average pressure of the distributors.
Ramadan hoped that operating this plant will put an end of years of power blackouts and a beginning to economic activity and development in all sectors.
For years, several cities in the occupied West Bank have been affected by power blackouts due to the excessive power load in the summer months.
Power blackouts are more critical in the northern cities than any other part of the West Bank. Citizens of the city of Tulkarem receive a daily schedule from the city’s municipality, which includes details of times, and city areas where blackouts are expected.
The long and frequent blackout periods are causing rage and anger among people amidst the lack of finding an endurable solution to the power crises.
The inauguration of the power plant, which is going to be attended by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, will take place after the signing of the interim agreement to buy power for the plant from the Israeli representative of the regional electric company.
Ramadan said, according to WAFA, that this plant is the first high-pressure plant ever used in Jenin. “It is part of the project to build four plants in the center, north and south of the occupied West Bank, which were built in the cities of Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus.”
“It is also part of a comprehensive project to boost the energy sector in Palestine and ensure that it meets consumers’ growing needs.”
With the operation of this plant, the Palestinian National Electricity Company will be able to import electricity of high pressure from its producers and sell it in accordance with the average pressure of the distributors.
Ramadan hoped that operating this plant will put an end of years of power blackouts and a beginning to economic activity and development in all sectors.
For years, several cities in the occupied West Bank have been affected by power blackouts due to the excessive power load in the summer months.
Power blackouts are more critical in the northern cities than any other part of the West Bank. Citizens of the city of Tulkarem receive a daily schedule from the city’s municipality, which includes details of times, and city areas where blackouts are expected.
The long and frequent blackout periods are causing rage and anger among people amidst the lack of finding an endurable solution to the power crises.
8 july 2017
The Energy Authority in Gaza announced that two power generators have been shut down after Egypt has stopped fuel delivery as the Palestinian Authority (PA) froze all bank transfers to Egypt for the purchase of fuel used to operate the besieged coastal enclave's sole power plant.
In a brief statement on Saturday, the Energy Authority in Gaza pointed out that the Egyptian fuel has not been entered into the blockaded Gaza Strip over the past two days. This has affected the power plant’s capacity to operate the electricity generators.
The statement revealed that efforts are being exerted for transferring payments via different ways in order to resume importing fuel from Egypt and to re-operate the power plant.
In a brief statement on Saturday, the Energy Authority in Gaza pointed out that the Egyptian fuel has not been entered into the blockaded Gaza Strip over the past two days. This has affected the power plant’s capacity to operate the electricity generators.
The statement revealed that efforts are being exerted for transferring payments via different ways in order to resume importing fuel from Egypt and to re-operate the power plant.