Gaza power plant to shut down
Gaza city's power plant is being shut down due to fuel shortage, Gaza Energy Ministry said on Sunday.
Most of turbines of the power plants were stopping operations on Sunday because of fuel shortage and the border blockade enforced by Israel against the people living in Gaza.
There were no signs of panic, as Gazans have been living with fuel cutbacks, power outages and shortages of supplies since Islamic Hamas government took over the seaside territory in June.
But the power plant's closure would mean the loss of a third of the electricity for the territory's residents, largely affecting the 400,000 people in Gaza City, the main population center.
Hamas government's Energy Ministry said that the regular fuel shipment from Israel hadn't arrived Sunday because the fuel terminal was closed, and the plant has nearly no stored reserves.
Hamas government Energy Minister Kanan Obeid called on Gazans to cut back their use of electric appliances.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, warned the move would drastically affect hospitals, sewage treatment plants and water facilities.
"The logic of this defies basic humanitarian standards," said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UNRWA.
Human rights groups also condemned the fuel cutoff, with the British group Oxfam calling it 'ineffective as well as unlawful'.
Fayiz Abu Shammaleh, mayor of the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, said if the fuel stoppage continued the municipality would have to stop collecting garbage, pumping water and treating sewage, instead funneling waste directly into the Mediterranean.
Hospitals can move to generators when the power goes out, but will have to cut back some activities like laundry, waste incineration and sterilization, hospital officials said.
People still had enough fuel to cook Sunday and were able to power their electric heaters, but it was not clear how long that would last.
Dozens of people were seen lining outside a bakery in downtown Gaza, fearing the electricity cutoff would lead to a bread shortage.
Israel apparently under great international pressure for its actions against the entire civilian population reducing fuel supply was forced to respond and issued a statement related by its foreign ministry saying "In response to media inquiries regarding power outages in Gaza, the Israel Foreign Ministry spokesman stated Sunday evening (20 January 2008): The supply of electricity to Gaza from the Israeli and Egyptian power grids (124 Megawatts and 17 Megawatts respectively) has continued uninterrupted. " The statement added that
Minister of National Infrastructures Binyamin Ben Eliezer said "We are the only state where the consumer aims its missiles every morning towards the country that provides most of its energy." Worth noting that Israel is an occupier of the Palestinian lands and even in Gaza, in complete control in practical manners of their environment, where Gaza has been described by some as a large prison.
