By Xinhua
Gaza : Gaza’s only power station will keep operating to Sunday after Israel continued sending reduced shipments of fuel, an official with the deposed Hamas government which rules the Gaza Strip said Thursday.
“The danger is still in place, but its levels are less than before,” said Kan’an Obaid, deputy director of the Palestinian Energy Authority.
“We have received moderate amounts of fuel today and a few amounts yesterday,” said Obaid, without disclosing the exact mount of fuel it received on Wednesday and Thursday.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Hamas-run Gaza Strip received five fuel tankers, which temporarily eased a humanitarian crisis emerging after five days of crossing closure by Israel.
On Jan. 17, Israel decided to tighten a siege that has been imposed on Gaza since mid-June last year, when Hamas took control of the coastal strip. All crossings leading to Gaza have been closed down.
Since then, Israel has been barring fuels and basic food products from reaching the Gaza Strip, in retaliation to ongoing makeshift rocket attacks carried out by Palestinian militants from Gaza against Israel.
The lack of fuel had forced Gaza’s only power plant to shut down on Jan. 20, leaving the enclave dependant only on some 140 megawatts of electricity that Israel and Egypt provide.
The Gaza Strip, home to about 1.5 million residents, needs at least 220 megawatts, according to officials at the Gaza power generating company.
Obaid said that the power plant would only produce between 45 and 50 megawatts out of 70 megawatts of power on Sunday.
“By Sunday, 30 percent of Gaza Strip households will plunge into darkness,” Obaid said, adding that the blackout would be distributed according to timetables in order not to affix particular areas.