No pot of gold for Palestinians

Chronic power shortages plaguing the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza have worsened, sometimes leaving its 1.7 million residents with less than six hours of electricity a day. Hugh Naylor reports

Palestinian children look at a rainbow shining over Gaza City on Thursday. The temperature dropped to 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit) with heavy showers and cloudy skies. Hatem Moussa / AP

RAMALLAH // Like many Gazans, Fadi Abu Shammala is preparing his family for a difficult winter.

The chronic power shortages plaguing this besieged Palestinian territory have worsened recently, sometimes leaving its 1.7 million residents, such as the Abu Shammalas, with less than six hours of electricity a day.

Fuel supplies have become scarcer as a result of an Israeli-imposed siege that has intensified since Egypt in June began systematically destroying most of the smuggling tunnels that have become Gaza’s lifeblood.

The shortage of diesel that is used to power generators has exacerbated the crisis while cooking oil, which is being used by taxi drivers as an alternative to petrol, is also in short supply.

“It’s so cold,” said Mr Abu Shammala, 29, a father of two young boys who works as a manager at a non-governmental organisation in Gaza City.

He recently spent Dh1,572 on a rechargeable battery to light his small apartment in Gaza City. But that has hardly helped. He and his family still spend much of their time huddling for warmth under layers of blankets, he said.

“I don’t know how much longer the people of Gaza can endure this situation,” he said.

Gaza needs about 400 megawatts of power a day for the lights to be on all the time, according to officials in the territory. The territory receives about 120 megawatts from Israel and 30 megawatts from Egypt every day, while diesel smuggled through the tunnels had been enough to produce another 85 megawatts a day. Gaza has at least power station but no current figures are available of its output.

Officials in the Hamas-run government of Gaza appear at a loss in terms of how to resolve the crisis, which worsened after the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt was removed from power in June. The fall of fellow Islamists in Cairo gave rise to a military-backed government that has punished Hamas and Gaza’s residents, in large part by destroying most of the tunnels that had sprung as a result of Israel’s blockade.

Until recently, they were a crucial artery for bringing into the territory such essentials as diesel fuel, petrol and cooking gas, as well as food and construction materials.

Israel imposed its blockade after Hamas, which officially calls for Israel’s destruction, took control of Gaza seven years ago.

Officials in the territory now warn that power may only be available to residents for less than six hours a day.

“It has become impossible for the electricity company to meet the minimum power needs of the population of the Gaza Strip,” Jamal Dardasawi, spokesman for Gaza’s electricity authority, was quoted as saying by the unofficial Palestinian news agency Maan.

Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister for the Gaza government, said officials had appealed to Qatar for assistance. Discussions also are being held with Cairo, he said.

“We are sparing no effort to help our people exit the current crisis. We are speaking to every country and every party to find a solution,” Mr Hamad said.

In the meantime, frustrations are boiling over. The lack of power has forced employers to cut back expenses and lay off workers, causing unemployment to rise, residents and aid organisations say.

The fuels brought in from Israel, moreover, are often far more expensive to buy than the Egyptian-subsidised fuel that had arrived from the tunnels.

“No electricity. No power to heat the house when it pours with rain,” said Ahmed Hamid, who works as a taxi driver.

“We blame everyone. Leaders in Gaza, in the West Bank, even Obama. Whoever sees us and does nothing is responsible for our tragedy.”

Mr Abu Shammala also is angry. But that emotion comes second to the most important issue facing him right now — how to keep his family warm and fed.

“It’s like life stops when you don’t have electricity,” he said.

* With additional reporting by Reuters