The sole power plant in Gaza Strip remained shut down on Tuesday despite receiving limited amount of fuel, Palestinian officials said, revealing technical troubles due to 12 days of halting.
"The industrial diesel that Israel allowed into Gaza was not used because 12 days of halting caused the generators to go through technical breakdowns," said Kan'an Obaid, deputy director of Palestinian Energy Authority.
Israel sealed off Gaza Strip on Nov. 5 after a new wave of violence, withholding European-funded diesel from reaching the power plant which produces 25 percent of the territory's electricity.
"We bought batteries and spare parts for the station's generators worth 1.8 million U.S. dollars but Israel doesn't allowthose parts in," Obaid added.
Since the plant's shutdown, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip became completely dependent on power from Israel and Egypt. However, overload damaged some of the networks and widened the shortage.
On Monday, Israel allowed limited shipment of diesel into Gaza but the Palestinian officials say the amount can keep the power plant running only for 30 hours.
The Israeli military operations, the ensuing Palestinian rocket attacks and the closure of the crossings violate the core point ofan Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that took effect in June between Hamas and Israel.
Israel was examining the situation on the ground to decide whether to open the crossing points into Gaza on Tuesday, but a rocket that landed late Monday into Israel's coastal city of Ashkelon prompted it to keep them closed.
Source: Xinhua
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