Gaza's only power station shut down due to fuel shortage

Gaza [Palestine], August 7: The only power plant in the Gaza Strip has been shut down because of fuel shortage, the Gaza-based energy authority announced Saturday, as Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed.
"Due to the current circumstances and the inability to supply fuel to the power plant, the power plant has been completely shut down," Gaza Electricity Company said in a statement.
With the new disruption, Gazans can get only four hours of electricity a day, compared to 12 hours before the shutdown.
Israel recently closed the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings, the passage between Israel and Gaza, for fear of retaliation from Gaza after Israel arrested Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad active in Gaza.
Muhammad Thabet, an official in the Gaza Electricity Company, told reporters that the station's suspension of work "leads to a catastrophic situation" in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip is already suffering from a shortage of electricity that couldn't meet the needs of its people and other facilities, Thabet said.
"There is no need to link the issue of electricity to any security or political issues," he noted.
The Gaza Strip requires some 550 megawatts of electricity per day, of which only 180 megawatts were available before the shutdown.
Gaza also receives electricity from Israel via power lines.
Source: Xinhua