Gaza power plant starts receiving diesel after shutdown

Gaza - Israel on Tuesday resumed fuel shipments to Gaza's power plant which was shut off yesterday, Palestinian officials said.

The plant, which produces a quarter of the Gaza Strip's electricity, has not resumed production however, first having to wait for enough fuel to accumulate.

Mahmoud al-Khozendar of Gaza's petrol stations union said the industrial diesel is being trucked in from the Nahal Oz crossing point with Israel south-east of Gaza City to the only power plant located in the centre of the strip.

"The Israeli side told us that 2.5 million litres of industrial diesel would be delivered today and tomorrow," al-Khozendar said. "This amount is enough for operating the station for one week."

But he added that the amount brought in was less than usual, "under a quarter of the average."

"The station needs four hours of warming up until starting to generate electricity and this cannot be done without making sure there is enough diesel in the storage tankers," he told reporters.

Large parts of Gaza City were plunged into darkness for more than four hours Monday evening after the power plant stopped working. Israel closed all crossing points into Gaza after a November 4 upsurge in violence between Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and Israel.

Although Israel has authorized the entry of limited amounts of European-funded industrial diesel for Gaza's power plant, it is keeping its crossing points with Gaza closed to cargo and other kinds of fuel.

Hamas and Israel have observed an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire for the past five months. (dpa)

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