On Monday, Dr. Rafiq Maliha again reported by telephone from Gaza that there had been no delivery of fuel.
The
“I do not want to give any time for the shut-down”, he said, “but I’ve indicated before we have very little fuel left. Here in
That will mean a total – and life-threatening – disruption in electricity supplied to
Nahal Oz will probably be closed for the next few days, Israeli officials said Thursday, after the previous afternoon´s attack on the Nahal Oz fuel transfer point by four armed Palestinians who broke through the
Dr. Maliha told this reporter that the
It has been operating on the edge since the last total shut-down on 22 January, and has been able to work only on a daily basis according to the Israeli deliveries.
On Sunday, Dr. Maliha said that there still had been no fuel delivered – although one Palestinian truck that had been stuck at the crossing last week had been allowed through. It contained only 45,000 liters of the industrial diesel fuel that the power plant uses – while over 300,000 liters is needed on a daily basis just to keep operations at the present reduced level.
Israeli military officials are not being moved by this crisis. They have angrily charged that the issue is being manipulated for propaganda purposes.
On Monday, Sari Bashi of Gisha, the Israeli human rights organizations that spear-headed the unsuccessful effort to get the Israeli High Court of Justice (Supreme Court) to block the military-ordered fuel cuts — and separate electricity cuts — said on