Israel bombs Gaza's only power plant

Israeli tanks shelled diesel tanks holding three million cubic litres of fuel at Gaza’s only power plant, causing it to stop working completely, the vice president of the Energy Authority in Gaza Fathi Al-Sheikh Khalil said yesterday.

“Gaza’s sole power plant has stopped working due to Israeli shelling last night, which damaged the steam generator and later hit the fuel tanks which set them on fire,” Khalil said.

“Five out of 10 of the Israeli electricity lines into the Gaza Strip were also damaged because of Israeli shelling, and maintenance still cannot reach the areas and fix them,” he explained.

“We need at least one year to repair the power plant, the turbines, the fuel tanks and the control room,” he explained. “Everything was burned.”

In light of the bombing, the electricity supply to the Strip which has been limited to three hours a day because of the Israeli bombardments, will now be reduced further and may not be available in some areas, Khalil confirmation.

The Gaza Strip needs 360 megawatts of electricity to be generated to fulfill the needs of its population of 1.8 million people, only 200 megawatts is available at the moment.

Gaza gets its electricity supply from three sources: 120 megawatts from Israel, 28 megawatts from Egypt, while the power plant in Gaza produces 40-60 megawatts of electricity.