Palestinian news service Ma’an reports that 10 new electric back-up generators have been imported from Israel and installed across the Gaza Strip in order to avert a humanitarian crisis in the coastal enclave.
The Gaza Electricity Distribution Company said that the generators were brought in from Israel through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. The generators will help ensure the provision of services in Gaza, especially in the water and health sectors, and prevent major disruptions due to lack of energy.
Electricity distribution has been down to less than two hours a day across the Gaza Strip since the Strip’s sole power plant was damaged by explosions on July 29. In addition, errant rockets fired by Hamas have damaged high-voltage electrical lines in Israel which supplied power to Gaza.
The head of the coastal municipalities water grid and sanitation systems Mahmoud al-Qidra said the generators will avoid a “real disaster” that could have hit the Gaza Strip’s sanitation and water sectors.
Israel continues to provide Gaza with hundreds of daily truckloads food, fuel, and medical supplies through the Kerem Shalom crossing, in spite of the ongoing hostilities. In the past month, Israel has supplied Gaza with 4.44 million liters of diesel for Gaza’s power station, 4.93 million liters of fuel and 2.22 million liters of benzene for transportation, 2,676 tons of gas for domestic use, and 2,806 trucks filled with food, essentials and aid.
That has not prevented Hamas from rocketing the crossing. On Sunday, Hamas rocket attacks at Kerem Shalom prevented about 85% of scheduled deliveries of goods from Israel to Gaza.
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