Palestinian Authority halts payments for Israeli electricity to Gaza
occupied jerusalem — The Palestinian Authority will no longer pay for the electricity Israel supplies to Gaza, Israeli officials said, a move that could lead to a complete power shutdown in the territory whose two million people already endure blackouts for much of the day.
Thursday’s decision was another sign of a hardening of Palestinian Authority policy towards its Hamas rivals, who control the enclave.
A senior UN official expressed concern about the deteriorating energy situation in Gaza and called for swift action by Israeli and Palestinian Authorities and the international community to ensure basic services keep running.
The Authority and Hamas are in deadlock in a struggle over a unity deal that could loosen the radical group’s hold on the Gaza Strip, territory it won control of from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, called the decision to halt the payments “a grave escalation and an act of madness”. Israeli authorities deal with the PA on electrical and fuel supplies for Gaza because Israel does not engage with Hamas.
The PA has already taken several steps, such as taxing Israeli fuel it purchases for Gaza’s sole power plant — which has been unable to come up with the funds and stopped operating two weeks ago — to pressure Hamas into new Palestinian elections.
Regaining a measure of control over Gaza could empower Abbas politically as Israel and the Palestinians await a widely expected push by US President Donald Trump.
“The Palestinian Authority has informed (us) it will immediately stop paying for the electricity that Israel supplies to Gaza through 10 power lines that carry 125 megawatts, or some 30 per cent of Gaza’s electrical needs,” said a statement from COGAT, Israel’s military liaison agency with the PA. With the generating plant off-line and Egyptian supplies via power lines notoriously spotty, Israeli electricity has been vital, keeping power on for Gazans, although for only four to six hours a day. Hospitals, ministries and many wealthier apartment blocks have generators but fuel is costly. —