May 12, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429

GAZA CITY, May 11: The Gaza Strip faced new blackouts on Sunday after its only power plant shut down as it received no fuel from Israel in four days, senior Palestinian officials said.

“There is a very serious crisis with respect to electricity,” Jamal al-Dardasawi, spokesman for the Gaza electrical distribution company said.

“With the power station having shut down, we are only receiving 120 megawatts from Israel and we need around 250 megawatts. There is a shortfall of around 50 per cent,” he said.

The Gaza plant provides 30 per cent of the impoverished territory’s electricity, with most of the rest directly supplied by Israel and a small amount coming from Egypt.

By Sunday afternoon bakeries across Gaza City were closing for lack of electricity to power their ovens.

Abu Ahmed, a 45-year-old father of six, arrived too late. “I went to buy bread but all the bakeries are closed. I don’t know how much longer this is going to continue,” he said.

Israel cut off fuel shipments to the Hamas-ruled territory after Palestinian militants allegedly attacked Gaza’s main Nahal Oz fuel terminal on April 9, killing two Israeli civilian employees.

It later resumed the supply of industrial-grade fuel for the power plant, which provides most of the electricity for Gaza City and surrounding areas, despite several subsequent attacks on Nahal Oz and other crossings.

An Israeli army spokesman said on Saturday that the last shipment of fuel for the plant entered the territory on Wednesday and that another was due to arrive on Sunday, but the terminal remains closed.

“Until now we haven’t received any fuel. The shipment was supposed to arrive on Sunday morning but we didn’t receive anything,” said Rafiq Maliha, the plant’s director.

Another army spokesman contacted on Sunday said the defence ministry had decided not to open the crossing.—AFP