Gaza power plant faces shutdown
23/04/2008| IslamWeb
The sole power plant in the Gaza Strip that provides 30 per cent of the territory's electricity is set to close down because of a shortage of fuel, officials have said.
They warned that the power plant will shut down on Wednesday if Israel does not resume fuel shipments to the isolated territory.
Kanaan Obeid, vice-president of Gaza's power authority, said in a press conference: "The supply of fuel will only last another 30 hours, which means that we expect the power generating plant will stop on Wednesday night."
He added reserves of industrial-grade fuel have dwindled to 400,000 liters since Israel halted fuel deliveries after Palestinian fighters attacked the territory's main fuel terminal on Thursday.
Power cuts
The Israeli army's coordinating office and the private Israeli company charged with supplying fuel to Gaza declined to comment on the matter.
Rafiq Maleha, director of the Gaza Power Station, told Al Jazeera that fuel has not entered Gaza since last Thursday.
The Gisha Legal Centre, an Israeli human rights group, on Tuesday wrote to the Israeli attorney general warning that the cuts "violate the state's commitment to the supreme court to permit a minimum amount of fuel to enter Gaza".
They also warned that once the power plant shuts down, the impoverished territory would face power cuts lasting eight-to-16 hours a day.
PHOTO CAPTION
A Palestinian worker is seen walking at the Gaza Strip's only power plant in Gaza City.