Gaza without electricity with the tightening of the Israeli blockade

Gaza without electricity with the tightening of the Israeli blockade

The Gaza Strip has been living for more than 10 days in a state of strict siege, with the Israeli occupation closing the Kerem Shalom crossing almost completely, and preventing the flow of fuel to the power plant, causing it to stop working, in addition to preventing construction materials and many materials. And the goods that were brought in, in addition to the complete closure of the sea and the deprivation of fishermen from searching for their livelihood, and the emphasis on them to pursue them within 3 miles near the shore to prevent them from working.

With the exacerbation of the crises, the most important of which is the suspension of the power station from working, and the effect of this on the process of distributing the electricity schedule to the population by 16 separate hours, compared to 3 or 4 hours that arrived, the vast majority of the residents of the Strip live in complete darkness at night, accompanied by a very hot atmosphere that deprives them and their children of Sleeping, and being disturbed during the day by the loss of their homes for the water, whose distribution schedule was affected by the power outage, in light of the warnings of the municipalities in the sector against stopping their services in light of the complete collapse of the environmental and health system, and the pumping of sewage into the sea, which may increase the suffering of the residents who find the sea their only outlet.

With this repeated scene from time to time due to violations, the memory of the residents of the Strip goes back to the beginnings of the blockade in 2006, when the wages, electricity and water crisis, the closure of the crossings and the sea, the repeated bombing of Gaza, and the accompanying great efforts to try to reach repeated agreements that oblige the occupation to stop Depriving the sector of its most basic rights.

According to specialists, this was accompanied by a response to the daily life of the population, the decline in trade in the markets and the economic situation in general, and most projects and factories stopped working due to the electricity crisis and the prevention of the entry of building materials.

According to Jamal Al-Khudari, head of the Popular Committee Against the Blockade, Gaza factories have reduced their work and production capacity to 20% due to the continuation of the Israeli blockade for the 14th year in a row, and the recent electricity crisis, indicating that this has caused a weak purchasing power.

Al-Khudari indicated in a press statement, that the number of unemployed workers has increased to more than 320,000 workers due to the blockade and the successive crises.

He pointed out that the crisis of closing crossings and the sea and stopping electricity, all of this has caused dangerous repercussions on Gaza in terms of the escalation of the humanitarian crisis, which affected the health, industrial, environmental, agricultural and water sectors, and all sectors that were in the wind.

"Gaza has no electricity and no life, and life cannot continue without the basic needs of electricity and fuel," he said.

Al-Khudari called on the world to intervene immediately and urgently to end this collective punishment that is held accountable by international law, noting that 80% of the people of the Gaza Strip live under the threat of poverty.

And identical Palestinian statistics indicate that 70% of the residents of the Gaza Strip suffer from food insecurity, 89% cannot provide for basic needs, and that unemployment has reached more than 60%.

The young Hussam Abu Matar told Al-Quds.com that life in Gaza has become miserable after the citizen lost all the necessities of life, pointing to a significant decline in the economic situation at all levels and social classes in Gaza.

He pointed out that his father, who owns a small shop in Gaza City, is no longer able to provide for his children a daily livelihood due to the lack of commercial movement in the markets, indicating that the situation may become more difficult in light of the Israeli hinting at the possibility of launching a new war on the Strip.

Women in the Gaza Strip are quick to take advantage of the arrival of electricity from 3 to 4 hours per day in the best cases, to spend the needs of their homes, while it continues to be cut off for very long hours.

Citizen Shadia Hawass told Al-Quds.com that the power cuts greatly affect her household business and cause her trouble in light of the water cuts and her inability to buy water from the cars to sell that travel on the streets to try to earn a living.

She indicated that with the onset of the crisis, electricity continued to be cut off for about 17 hours in the absence of a fixed distribution schedule by the electricity company, which says it is trying to implement an emergency plan through which it can install a clear schedule for electricity distribution.

Hawass indicates that she is forced to schedule her work according to the arrival of the electricity date if it arrives on time, and she indicated that she often accomplishes her household work, especially preparing bread, washing clothes and other things with the dawn hours when the current arrives, and that she spends those nights without sleep to accomplish her piled up work.

The forty-year-old citizen, Samer Abu Hassan, says that the electricity crisis affects all aspects of life, and that many of the household, life and even businesses they depend on to accomplish their work.

Abu Hassan added to Al-Quds.com, "Days pass by us. We cannot shop for more than our needs for one day for fear of food spoilage due to the lack of electricity and keeping it in the refrigerator," noting that he had to destroy a large amount of vegetables with the onset of the crisis and its interruption for more than 24 consecutive hours. .

The electricity crisis affects the operation of service departments in municipalities of water wells and their lack of access to the population, who warn of an environmental disaster threatening their lives at various levels.

Abu Hassan said about that, that the situation is no longer intolerable and that there must be radical solutions to this crisis and suffering, pointing out that these crises often recur and there is no clear solution by officials in light of the occupation´s tightening of its siege.