Israel has halted the transfer of fuel to Gaza Strip’s only power plant on Tuesday, in response to the launch of arson balloons that have sparked raging fires in the country.
Zeyad Thabet, Director General of Electricity Distribution Company in Gaza, said the move “will badly influence the schedule of electricity distribution all over the Gaza Strip’’.
Israel’s chief liaison office with the Palestinians said in a statement that it had stopped the fuel supply “until further notice’’.
Thabet said that Gaza “will lose 75 megawatts of electricity if the power station completely stops’’.
Qatar buys 10 million dollars worth of fuel from Israel every month to operate the Gaza power station.
Gaza has suffered from severe electricity shortages over the past 12 years, since Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on the Strip, citing security reasons.
According to Thabet, the lack of fuel would mean Gaza would have an average of eight hours of electricity per day as opposed to the current 12 hours a day.
Eyad al-Qarra, a political analyst close to Hamas in Gaza, said “the declaration of the occupation (Israel) to stop supplying Gaza power station with fuel is like opening fire at the remaining Egyptian and UN brokered understandings’’.
In May, Egypt and the UN mediated a ceasefire following the worst outbreak of violence between the two sides since 2014.
