The Gaza electricity crisis is an ongoing and growing

electricity crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...

faced by nearly two million residents of the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, with regular power supply being provided only for a few hours a day on a

rolling blackout A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overl ...

schedule. Some Gazans and government institutions use private

electric generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power ( mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, g ...

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

s and

uninterruptible power supply An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power syste ...

units to produce power when regular power is not available. The crisis is predominantly the result of tensions between

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni- Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qas ...

, which has ruled Gaza since June 2007, and the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

(PA) and

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and s ...

, which rules in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, over custom tax revenue, funding of Gaza, and political authority. The Hamas government in Gaza has been reliant on the PA to help provide electricity in Gaza, with import duties on Gaza's fuel purchased via Israel being collected by Israel, as per

Protocol on Economic Relations The Protocol on Economic Relations, also called the Paris Protocol, was an agreement between Israel and the PLO, signed on 29 April 1994, and incorporated with minor amendations into the Oslo II Accord of September 1995. Position in the agreeme ...

, which are passed to the PA, which pays the bills to Israel and Egypt for the electricity they supply to Gaza. In April 2017, the PA ceased paying the electricity bills issued by

Israel Electric Corporation Israel Electric Corporation ( he, חברת החשמל לישראל, abbreviation: IEC) is the largest supplier of electrical power in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The IEC builds, maintains, and operates power generation stations, sub- ...

(IEC) and by Egypt.

Power sources

Almost all of Gaza's liquid fuel and about half of its electricity is supplied by Israel. These supplies are normally not subject to the continuing

blockade of the Gaza Strip The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt temporarily in 2005–2006 and permanently from 2007 onwards, following the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. The bloc ...

, though limitations apply. As of 2017, Gaza's normal energy needs are estimated to be approximately 400–600

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wat ...

for full 24-hour supply to all residents. The electricity is normally supplied by: * Gaza's sole power plant which has a nominal rating of 60–140 MW (figures vary due to degree of operation and damage to the plant) which is reliant on diesel fuel imported via Israel, * 125 MW supplied by

(IEC) via 10 power lines, and * 27 MW supplied by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. Even in normal conditions, the current rated supply of Gaza is inadequate to meet growing needs, and the crisis has led to further closure and reductions to each of these power sources.The humanitarian impact of Gaza’s electricity and fuel crisis
, UN OCHA, March 2014

Background

Until June 2013, diesel fuel for the power plant was smuggled from Egypt, where fuel at the time was highly subsidized. Egypt took measures against the

Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that had been dug under the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border. They were dug to subvert the blockade of the Gaza Strip to smuggle in fuel, food, weapons and other goods i ...

, halting these cheap imports. With a halt to such smuggling and with restricted amounts of fuel supplied via Israel, due to the Israeli

, the power plant began operating at partial capacity. The supply of electricity by IEC was not subject to the blockade, and the supply from Egypt was unreliable. In 2014, during the Gaza War, the Gaza power plant was hit several times by Israeli shelling. Its fire extinguishing systems were struck and its fuel tanks were set ablaze. By 2015, the plant has had some basic repairs and relied on one small fuel tank to operate. The blockade makes maintenance and importing parts very difficult, and limits fuel imports.

Power crisis of 2017

On 16 April 2017, the Gaza power plant closed after fuel supplied by Qatar and Turkey ran out. Hamas blamed the PA for the crisis by not passing tax revenues to Gaza, while the PA claimed that Hamas officials in Gaza were simply incapable of running the plant efficiently. As at 25 April 2017, all power lines from Egypt to Gaza were down.Egyptian power lines to Gaza down
''Middle East Monitor'', April 2017 The electricity supplied by IEC was the only electricity available in the Gaza Strip. In April 2017, the PA told IEC that it would only pay ILS 25 million of the ILS 40 million monthly bill for Gaza and instructed IEC to reduce supply. IEC reduced supplies to Gaza in May and June 2017, saying the dispute was an internal Palestinian matter. PA President Mahmoud Abbas was seen as seeking to ramp up pressure on Hamas. The Israeli military and the UN have warned that the electricity crisis and resulting humanitarian crisis may lead Gaza to initiate military hostilities. Hamas has labelled Israel's decision as "dangerous and catastrophic", threatening to renew violence. According to

Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...

Egypt offered, in June 2017, to supply Gaza with electricity in exchange for the extradition of 17 wanted terrorists and other security demands.Egypt said to offer Hamas electricity in exchange for 17 wanted men
''Times of Israel'', 13 June 2017 On 20 June 2017, it was reported that Egypt and Hamas reached an understanding according to which Egypt would supply 500 tons of diesel fuel daily. This supply was not subject to Israeli custom duties (which would have been withheld by the PA). In July 2017, untreated sewage was directed to the sea, due to the lack of electricity, severely polluting Gaza's beaches. As a result, the number of beach goers plummeted. The Israeli beach of Zikim was closed as well due to the sewage pollution from Gaza. Gazan sewage was also pumped into Israel via Nahal Hanoun from

Beit Hanoun Beit Hanoun or Beit Hanun ( ar, بيت حانون) is a city on the northeast edge of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 32,187 in mid-2006. It is administered by the Hamas admi ...

and

Beit Lahia Beit Lahia or Beit Lahiya ( ar, بيت لاهيا) is a city in the Gaza Strip north of Jabalia, near Beit Hanoun and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the city had a population of ...

polluting the Israeli coastal groundwater

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characte ...

. In August 2017, the United Nations human rights office called on Israeli, Palestinian and Hamas authorities to resolve the conflict, saying ""We are deeply concerned about the steady deterioration in the humanitarian conditions and the protection of human rights in Gaza", and that the supply of electricity for less than four a hours a day since April "has a grave impact on the provision of essential health, water and sanitation services". Israeli human rights group

B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...

has documented how Gazans cope with electricity being provided on a rolling blackout schedule of a few hours a day, and has further said that Israel should take responsibility for the crisis, a responsibility Israel denies, saying that Hamas should allocate funds for electricity rather than personal gain and military expenditure on equipment and military tunnels.

Further disruptions

In August 2020, the Gaza power plant shut down after Israel suspended fuel shipments after dozens of incendiary balloons were launched from Gaza causing brush fires in southern Israel. Political sources described the effort as a bid to pressure Israel to ease its blockade and allow more Arab and international investment. During the

2021 Israel–Palestine crisis A major outbreak of violence in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict commenced on 10 May 2021, though disturbances took place earlier, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It was marked by protests and police riot ...

, electric lines supplying Gaza from Israel were struck by errant Gazan rockets, knocking out three of the ten power lines from Israel, severely reducing the electricity supply. At the time, the

stated that it cannot repair the lines, and after the fighting ceased the IEC Union released a statement refusing to repair the facilities until Israeli prisoners of

(including Avera Mengistu and the bodies of

Hadar Goldin The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territories, Pale ...

and Oron Shaul) were returned.

References

{{reflist Gaza Strip Fatah–Hamas conflict Energy in the Gaza Strip Energy crises

Power sources

Background

Power crisis of 2017

Further disruptions

See also

References