Israel leaves Gaza without electricity – Amira Hass

Ten days after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip were still limited, just like during the week and a half of hostility. Until the evening of Sunday May 30th, electricity was only three or four hours a day. From the next day it is there for six hours, followed by twelve without.

These numbers have to be compared with those prior to the start of the conflict, when electricity was usually available for eight consecutive hours. Earlier this week, the Gaza Strip received just 116 megawatts from Israel and the local Palestinian power plant, compared to around 190 megawatts before the war (which is still not enough to meet local demand of 500 megawatts).

The dramatic power cut in Gaza is largely due to the Israeli government’s decision to suspend fuel deliveries to the Palestinian power plant in Gaza in an attempt to increase pressure on Hamas. In Israel, five high voltage lines that supplied electricity to Gaza were damaged during these fighting. Repairs were completed on the afternoon of May 30th. A source who works at the Gaza power plant told the Gaza Strip’s al-Mezan Human Rights Center that as in the past, Qatar pays for the fuel used by the power plant, which normally comes from Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing. , closed by the Israeli government.

Due to power outages and fuel shortages, the wastewater treatment plants are also not functioning. At least one hundred thousand cubic meters of unfiltered waste from the sewers were dumped into the Mediterranean every day. For the same reason, water purification and desalination plants are only partially functioning. It means that hundreds of thousands of Gazans do not have access to clean water.

The local power plant is delivering 45 megawatts instead of its usual 70. The fear is that, in the next few days, production will drop further or stop altogether. The neighborhood private generators, which usually cover blackouts, only work a few hours a day, and sometimes not even those, since there is no diesel. The situation could get even worse if Israel does not abandon its current policy.

Electricity cuts also affect Gaza’s hospitals, which in turn depend on generators. This puts patients in danger, including those injured in recent hostilities and the most severe cases among covid-19 sufferers. In Gaza, the use of solar panels has increased, but it is mainly intended for domestic consumption.

The war of recent days has caused damage to the electricity grid of the Gaza territory for about 22 million dollars (more or less 18 million euros). In recent days, the Palestinian company in charge of the electricity supply has repaired parts of the power lines coming from Israel, on the side of the Gaza border. But the company told the Israeli humanitarian association Gisha that even if it does find money for the spare parts needed to make the repairs, it doesn’t know when these parts will be delivered, because Israel has decided to limit the transport of direct goods in Gaza only for goods necessary for “humanitarian” purposes.

Israel electric corporation (IEC) completed repairs to the Israeli power lines supplying Gaza on the afternoon of May 30th. The IEC supplies 120 megawatts of electricity to Gaza through ten power lines. Five were damaged during the war.

Repairs began on May 23, two days after the ceasefire went into effect. The work was continued even though IEC employees had threatened not to complete it until two missing Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers were returned to Israel from Gaza. “Iec treats all its customers the same way. Electricity is an essential product, not related to the conflict, ”the electricity company replied when asked if the repairs had been suspended.

The IEC added that the damage was substantial and that each line was hit in various places. That is why it took a long time to locate and repair them. The company also had to call in other workers. And in fact, starting from the morning of May 31, Gazans have received six hours of continuous electricity, followed by twelve hours without electricity, with an increase in supplies up to 165 megawatts.

(Translation by Federico Ferrone)