Gaza hit by blackouts in latest energy crisis

The Gaza Strip was left almost entirely without power Tuesday due to maintenance work on power lines from both Israel and Egypt and ongoing tax disputes on fuel for the enclave’s near-defunct power station.

Muhammad Thabit, a spokesman for Gaza’s electricity company, said that starting at 6 a.m., all lines supplying power from Egypt as well as two lines from Israel were disconnected, cutting off residents of southern Gaza and Gaza City from electricity.

Thabit said he was unaware how long the cuts were expected to last.

Gaza’s sole power station meanwhile was operating at just half its capacity for the third consecutive day due to the shutdown of one of two turbines in the station, Thabit added.

Thabit told Ma’an the shutdown came after a dispute between Gaza’s electricity company and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority Ministry of Finance over taxes on fuel used by the station.

Thabit said that starting this year, the PA ministry had cut its subsidies for Gaza’s fuel costs by nearly 50 percent.