GAZA (Agencies)
The Gaza Strip's sole power plant could shut down again if Israel does not allow the resumption of fuel shipments to the impoverished territory in the next few days, the plant's director said on Saturday.
Israel halted fuel supplies to Gaza on Thursday, a day after Palestinian militants attacked a border crossing used to pump fuel to the costal enclave's main power plant.
"In a few days, if the fuel supplies ... are not resumed we will be forced to shut down the entire power plant," Rafiq Maliha, the plant's director, told reporters. "This means we will stop feeding electricity to over half a million people living in Gaza."
The impoverished Gaza Strip is home to 1.5 million people, most of whom are dependent on aid.
Maliha did not specify how much longer the plant could run on existing reserves, but in January the plant shut down for three days after Israel closed all crossings leading into Gaza following a spike in violence.
Jamal al-Dadrasawi, a spokesman for Gaza's power distribution company, said that if the "if the fuel does not enter, there is going to be a real crisis."
He added that the loss of the plant would deprive Gaza of 55 megawatts of electricity, resulting in territory-wide power cuts of up to 10 hours a day.
Gaza's sole power plant provides around 30 percent of the territory's electricity, with most of the remainder supplied directly from Israel and a small amount from Egypt. |
