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Gaza hit by power plant shut down EU confirms halt to Gaza fuel aid
(1 day later)
The Gaza Strip's main power plant shut down operations on Sunday saying it had depleted fuel reserves, after the EU halted financing of fuel deliveries. The EU has confirmed it has stopped paying for fuel supplies to the only power plant in Gaza, leaving thousands of Palestinians without electricity.
Israel had opened a border crossing - closed earlier amid Israeli security concerns - to allow fuel into Gaza. The European Commission said it had withheld funding because of concerns over plans by Hamas, which controls Gaza, to tax electricity bills.
But Israeli energy firm Dor Alon has yet to deliver fuel after the EU said it would not pay for Sunday's shipment. The fuel aid programme will resume once Hamas agrees not to introduce the tax.
The EU said it was reviewing the fuel aid programme for Gaza, which is controlled by the militant Hamas group. On Sunday, the Israeli military opened a border crossing to allow fuel supplies in, but none was delivered.
The Gaza Generating Company, which powers 25% of the coastal strip, cut power to nearly half of Gaza's residents on Friday after Israel closed the Nahal Oz fuel crossing. The EU's decision has forced the Gaza Generating Company, which provides power for at least 25% of the coastal strip's 1.5m population, to shut down operations at the Nusseirat power plant.
It shut off the last of its four generators on Sunday - after its fuel reserves were depleted - extending the power outage even further. 'Appropriate assurances'
'Payment problems' In the past, the EU has paid for the Gaza Generating Company's fuel supplies as part of its humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.
"The EU representative told us not to deliver because there is no guarantee that we will receive payment for today's fuel. That is why we are not delivering fuel for the plant," the Dor Alon fuel company said in a statement. But on Monday, the European Commission said it had stopped the fuel payments of around $9m (£4.5m) a month, after officials learned of plans by Hamas to profit from the subsidy by imposing a tax on electricity bills.
We are ready to resume our support to the Gaza power plant within hours once we receive the appropriate assurances European Commission Return to Gaza
The commission also said it was concerned by the security situation on the Israel-Gaza border, especially at the Nahal Oz fuel crossing.
"We are ready to resume our support to the Gaza power plant within hours once we receive the appropriate assurances that all the funds will be exclusively used for the benefit of the Gaza population," it said in a statement.
Hamas has denied it plans to impose any such tax.
In the meantime, most Gazans have been left to cope with the hot summer without electricity.
Mosim Abu Rabadan, who runs a grocery store, said he was too poor to afford a generator.
"Without electricity the business is stopped. It's very bad business now," he said.
Accusations
Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank have been trading accusations over who is to blame for the EU's actions.
Israel began cutting fuel supplies to Gaza after the Hamas takeoverIsrael began cutting fuel supplies to Gaza after the Hamas takeover
"Fuel supplies will resume if and when the European Union or another credible source notifies us that it will guarantee payment for the power station's fuel." The Islamist movement has accused President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the rival Fatah movement, of engineering the crisis for political gain.
An EU spokeswoman, Alix de Mauny, confirmed that it had suspended the payments, but that no permanent decision had been taken. Fatah officials have said Hamas is already collecting electricity revenues and has never paid for electricity supplied by Israel.
"The European Union did not finance payments for today, Sunday. A review is ongoing for all parameters of this programme," she told the AFP news agency, without elaborating. Hamas has been in charge of the Gaza Strip since June, when it seized control violently from Fatah.
A senior Palestinian official in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Mujahed Salama, told AFP that the EU had made the decision because of problems collecting money from Hamas, the Islamist movement that has controlled Gaza since a bloody takeover two months ago. It is regarded as a terrorist organisation by the US, EU and Israel, which have refused to deal with it directly until it recognises Israel and renounces violence.
Hamas accused the Western-backed Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah movement, of engineering the crisis for political gain. The majority of Gaza's power comes via power lines from Israel, with a small proportion coming from Egypt. Israel began cutting off fuel supplies to Gaza after Hamas' takeover.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on the planet, with about 1.5 million residents.
The majority of the territory's power comes via power lines from Israel, with a small proportion coming from Egypt.
Israel began cutting off fuel supplies to Gaza after Hamas took over the territory in June.
Hamas and other militant factions have fired thousands of rockets into Israel from Gaza.