2023-10-11 16:49:58
In the absence of independent electricity production, Gaza is almost entirely dependent on Israel for its energy supply. AMIR COHEN / REUTERS
After the deadly Hamas attack, the Jewish state announced a total siege of the Gaza Strip, preventing its supply of fuel, essential for the Palestinian enclave.
«The remaining fuel is enough for 10 hours of electricity in Gaza», wrote a resident of the Palestinian territory at 8:32 a.m. this Wednesday morning, from a Telegram messaging group. The approximately two million inhabitants of Gaza have already suffered daily power cuts for years and only benefit from around ten hours of electricity per day. But this time, they could be completely without power, for an indefinite period.
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In retaliation for the Hamas invasion on Saturday which left 1,200 dead in Israel according to the latest report, the Israeli Minister of Defense announced on Monday a siege “total» from the Gaza gangs, «no electricity, no water, no gas“, the Hebrew State claiming the “right to defend oneself against such brutality“. The military response killed 1,055 people on the Palestinian side, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said in a statement that “the imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential to their survival is prohibited by international humanitarian law».
Water unfit for consumption
The Palestinian enclave has only one operational power plant. It runs on fuel oil, fuel mainly sent from Israel. However, these imports are prohibited in accordance with Israeli headquarters. At the beginning of the afternoon, the dreaded news came: the only power plant had shut down due to lack of fuel.
This plant has a capacity of 140 megawatts (MW) but often operates at just 80 MW. This for a demand of 400 MW. In other words, even before the siege “total“, the Palestinian power station provided less than a quarter of the power. There are indeed high voltage lines connected to Egypt, but according to the UN (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, in English) it has no longer provided electricity since 2017. Since 2018, power has been provided by Israel, via several high voltage lines, provided around 120 MW, again according to OCHA. This year, until the Hamas attack, Gazans had electricity on average 13 hours a day.
Some residents and infrastructure have generators. But these, in addition to being expensive, run on fuel oil and are therefore dependent on reserves and Israeli supplies, now cut off.
Regarding access to water, 90% of this resource available in Gaza is unfit for consumption according to the UN. 10% of drinking water is supplied by Israel. The only exploitable resource is an aquifer contaminated by seawater infiltration. In 2017, the European Union and UNICEF financed a desalination plant in southern Gaza. But it consumes a lot of energy and needs fuel to operate. It should therefore stop working within a few days.
Off the coast of the Gaza Strip, significant gas deposits were discovered around twenty years ago but the exploitation agreements in talks with Egypt are blocked by the Hebrew state, which itself exports its gas via Egypt.
In addition, since 2007, the Israeli blockade has imposed very strict controls on imports and the movement of people. For example, the transit of steel is prohibited. This isolation hinders the entire development of the economy in a territory where half of the population – 70% of inhabitants are under 30 years old – is unemployed. The “total” siege imposed by Israel, combined with the destruction of infrastructure, is pushing Gaza into another dimension.
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