The first act in Israel’s "Summer Rain" campaign in Gaza was the destruction of the power station which fed the Strip 70 percent of its electricity. The result was devastating for the people of Gaza.
Today, two months later, Gazans still receive on average of between 6 – 8 hours of electricity per day and for most families living in urban areas 2 – 3 hours of water per day. It should be remembered that Gaza is the most densely populated area in the world and its summers are extremely hot..
Gaza‘s source of power has always been Israel which charges exorbitant rates. As witnessed earlier, Israeli forces cut it altogether when they wish to attack the Gazan infrastructure.
The Palestinian Authority began contacts with the Egyptian authorities to solve their energy crisis once the power station was destroyed. It was decided that switching to a network with would dispense with the Palestinian dependence on Israeli energy and that Gaza had to escape from one aspect of the occupation – control over the electrical supply.
The verbal agreements between Palestine and Egypt were completed last month, with financing conducted via the Islamic Development Bank, to install four new transmitters in Rafah with a 25 MW capacity each. The second phase for the electrical feed would have extended further into Rafah and then head north.
However, Palestinian sources told Al Hiyat Newspaper Saturday that Israeli obstacles are still preventing Gaza’s new electrical project with to come to fruition.
The Palestinian Ministry sources said Israel will not allow the agreements to be signed between the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Energy and the Gaza Strip, in addition to preventing completion of the infrastructure work. Israel, they said, will not allow itself to be cut out of the deal, and insists on remaining in control of every aspect of the occupied population’s lives.
An electrical grid running from to Gaza was expected to be completed weeks ago. The extension was built and ready to send 800 megawatts of electricity from into the Rafah District in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces will not even allow Egyptian or Palestinian crews to cross the border with new equipment to repair the devastation wreaked upon Gaza’s main power station.
