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<h1 class="article-title">Israel Bars Repair of Gaza Electricity
Grids, Plant Again Threatened with Closure</h1>
<div class="article-subtitledetails">
<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.09080908.04020509@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Tuesday July 21, 2015 06:49</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.04040806.05070307@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by IMEMC News & Agencies</span></span> <br>
<b><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/72296">http://www.imemc.org/article/72296</a></small></small></b><br>
</div>
<blockquote class="article-intro">Israeli authorities have prevented
Israeli power firm from repairing electricity grids supplying Gaza
Strip, Palestinian officials said on Monday.</blockquote>
<p class="article">A technical error in the Israeli side cut off two
main power grids supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip over the
weekend. The down lines provide 25 percent or 30 megawatts, of the
electricity that the Israeli occupation sells to the Strip.<br>
<br>
Power grid No. 8, which provides electricity to central Gaza and
parts of Khan Younis, shut down three days ago, and Al-Qubba grid,
which provides electricity to the Gaza City, shut down on Sunday,
according to Days of Palestine.<br>
<br>
Officials of the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company said the
company is attempting to cooperate with the Palestinian Power
Authority to repair the broken grids, but said the Israeli
occupation is obstructing their efforts.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, the occupation also is preventing the Israeli
Electricity Corporation from fixing the grids on the grounds of
security concerns.<br>
<br>
Gaza currently receives electricity from the Israeli occupation,
Egypt, and a power station inside Gaza.<br>
<br>
However, these supply lines fall far short of the Gazan
population’s needs. While the three suppliers provide 230 MW of
electricity, the UN estimates that this meets only half of Gaza’s
needs.<br>
<br>
The Israeli occupation and Egypt have maintained a severe blockade
of the Gaza Strip for the last eight years that has crippled the
coastal enclave’s economy by limiting imports, exports and
movement of people.<br>
<br>
Although the power plant inside Gaza has a potential output of 120
MW, it has been unable to produce that much due to Israeli
restrictions on fuel imports and high taxes imposed by the
Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah.<br>
<br>
Therefore, the Gaza plant generally produces around 60 MW, 50
percent of its potential.<br>
<br>
Last summer the plant was targeted during the 51-day Israeli
offensive on Gaza, completely knocking it out of commission. The
Gaza power authority said at the time that the damages from the
attack could take up to a year to fix completely.<br>
<br>
Gaza suffers 12 hours of power outages each day. Many individual
homes have their own generators, and households can purchase
extremely expensive fuel that comes into Gaza for private
consumption.<br>
<br>
<b>Plant threatened with closure</b><br>
<br>
The plant will stop running Monday evening as it is unable to
cover taxes imposed by the national unity government, Gaza's
energy authority said, according to Ma'an News Agency.<br>
<br>
The unity government waved the tax in a show of good will in the
four months to the end of Ramadan, but the Gazan energy authority
said in a statement Monday that since the tax has been reinstated
it can no longer afford to keep the plant running.<br>
<br>
The energy authority added that it had only been able to cover the
cost of maintaining the plant during the holy Muslim month of
Ramadan and the Eid holiday by borrowing from local companies and
taking loans from banks. </p>
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