UN report: Gaza power plant still shut awaiting fuel

“The resumption of operations of the Gaza Power Plant (GPP) continues to be contingent on securing the necessary fuel,” the UN warned, stressing that “even if fuel is secured it will be difficult to service the areas worst affected from the July-August offensive.”

In a report published on Saturday by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (OCHA) the organisation pointed out that “after being hit several times, the GPP was shut down on 29 July, rendering Gaza exclusively dependent on electricity purchased from Egypt and Israel.”

“Even in areas where service has resumed, outages exceed 18 hours per day, severely disrupting the provision of basic services including health and water throughout Gaza,” OCHA warned.

Adding: “The shutdown of the GPP continues to have an immense, adverse impact on the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”

The electricity shortage has “drastically curtailed the pumping of water to households and the treatment of sewage, both of which require electricity. It has also resulted in increased reliance of hospitals, already under strain, on generators,” OCHA explained.

In addition to this, the “availability of food continues to be adversely affected by the lack of electricity as basic and essential providers such as bakeries have been forced to reduce their bread production and families have not been able to depend on refrigerators to store food.”

The report stated that “emergency fuel distributions to allow the operation of backup generators for water and sanitation facilities, the health sector, and municipalities, continue at an accelerated rate, funded by the Islamic Development Bank.”

The UN warned that “fuel for municipalities will run out by the end of November. Currently, there are no prospects of continued fuel distributions to critical installations, if further funding is not received.”

The only power plant in Gaza stopped working after Israeli aircrafts targeted its main fuel tank during the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip which began on July 7 and lasted 51 days.