Gaza power plant shuts down as fuel crisis worsens

Gaza's sole power station shut down again on Wednesday after running out of fuel, a source at the plant told AFP, as the territory's energy crisis deepened. "The electricity plant has stopped work because of a lack of fuel," the source said. The plant has stopped working several times this year as the Gaza Strip lives through its worst-ever energy crisis which has been brought on by a drop in fuel supplies from neighbouring Egypt. On Wednesday, a delivery of 30 million litres of Qatari fuel was to have entered the Hamas-run Gaza Strip from Egypt, after being transported through Egypt's Al-Awja crossing into southern Israel, then into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. But on Wednesday afternoon, Raed Futuh, an official at Kerem Shalom said the delivery had been delayed for the fourth time in three weeks, citing "technical issues." Last month, Israel gave the green light for the fuel to be transferred through its territory after receiving a request from the Egyptians, an Israeli security official said. The Gaza power crisis was sparked by a fall in supplies of fuel smuggled in from Egypt, forcing the closure of the coastal territory's sole power plant and causing power cuts of up to 18 hours a day. The situation eased somewhat in April after a deal between Gaza's Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which agreed to supply Gaza with fuel purchased from Israel.