The Israeli government took retaliatory aim at Gaza’s electricity supply Monday ordering fuel shipments into the coastal region to be cut-in-half “until further notice”, over alleged Palestinian rockets attacks against southern Israel on Sunday night.
Mohammad Thabet, a spokesman for the Gaza power company said:
“We already are in a crisis and now the Israeli decision will make it worse. It will have a grave impact on the lives of 2 million people and on vital services such as hospitals.”
Israel cuts fuel deliveries into Gaza & announces plans to build a brand new illegal settlement comprising 100s of homes on Palestinian land https://t.co/goDJj4SH13
— Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) August 27, 2019
Far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the fuel reduction in advance of a security cabinet meeting amid Israel’s election campaign, which is seeing an increase in aggression and rhetoric against Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.
A Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Qanou accused Netanyahu’s administration of working to “export its internal crisis,” condemning the decision as an “arbitrary action,” which shows that Israel is not serious about implementing any Gaza Strip ceasefire understandings reached under the sponsorship of Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.
Israel leaves Gaza with no electricity in summer heat as a punishment https://t.co/NYMPl79JxG
— Margaret lagan (@margaret_lagan) August 26, 2019
The Israeli regime said the move was in response to three rockets launched on Sunday from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. The third rocket fell in an open area, the Israeli military said. There was no claim of responsibility.
Currently, residents get six hours of electricity followed by 12 hours of blackout. Gaza’s power company said the fuel cuts would decrease power time to only four-hour periods.
(TeleSur, PC, Social Media)
