Blackouts hit Gaza after sole power plant shuts down

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

GAZA CITY (AFP) — The Gaza Strip faced new blackouts on Sunday after its only power plant shut down after receiving no fuel from Israel in four days, senior Palestinian officials said.

"There is a very serious crisis with respect to electricity," Jamal al-Dardasawi, spokesman for the Gaza electrical distribution company, told AFP.

"With the power station having shut down, we are only receiving 120 megawatts from Israel and we need around 250 megawatts. There is a shortfall of around 50 percent," he said.

The Gaza plant provides 30 percent of the impoverished territory's electricity, with most of the rest directly supplied by Israel and a small amount coming from Egypt.

By Sunday afternoon bakeries across Gaza City were closing for lack of electricity...