Palestinian Centre for Human Rights expresses concern over halt of fuel supplies

By NNN-WAFA,

Gaza : The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has expressed its concern over the halt of fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip.


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In a press release Wednesday, the PCHR said that more than 30 per cent of the Gazan population was in complete darkness Tuesday night. Although the IOF allowed Wednesday the delivery of 427,410 litres of energy fuel, which is enough to operate Gaza’s power plant for one day, the PCHR is still concerned that humanitarian condition in the Gaza Strip may further deteriorate.

The IOF have closed all commercial crossing points of the Gaza Strip since last Wednesday (Nov 5), banning the delivery of the limited quantities of supplies that had been allowed into the Gaza Strip. The IOF have also stopped the delivery of fuel supplies that had been already reduced, which has caused further deterioration to humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip that had been deteriorating since June 15, last year when IOF imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip.

According to PCHR’s observations and its field workers’ report, the closure of the Nahal Ouz crossing, used for the delivery of fuel supplies, has resulted in an acute shortage of the energy fuel required for the operation of the Gaza power plant that generates approximately one third of Gaza Strip’s daily needs of electricity.

Engineer Hassan Al-Nabih, Deputy Director-General in the Palestinian Energy Authority, said that one of the electricity generation turbines in the power plant has been stopped due to the shortage of fuel supplies. As a result, the productivity of the plant had dropped from 70 to 50 megawatts.

He added that the plant will be completely stopped if not replenished with fuel. He explained that the fuel supplied to the power plant, which is estimated at 2.5 million litres per week, is promptly consumed, and hence the plant has no reserves.

On Monday, the Gaza power plant was put off when it ran out of fuel. As a result, many neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip, especially in Gaza city, where approximately 570,000 people live, were in complete darkness.

The PCHR condemned the imposition of further restrictions, which are a flagrant violation of the international humanitarian law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The PCHR called upon the international community to exert effective pressure on the Israeli Occupation Authorities to end the suffering of more than 1.5 million Palestinian civilians living in the Gaza Strip and ensure immediate and free flow of basic supplies, including fuel, food and medicine, into the Gaza Strip.

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