Egyptian authorities on Tuesday disconnected all power grids providing electricity to the southern Gaza Strip district of Rafah for maintenance.
Muhammad Thabit, a public information officer for Gaza’s electricity company, told Ma’an that the grids were disconnected at 7:00 a.m. Egyptian authorities did not notify their Gazan counterparts regarding when electricity would be restored, according to Thabit.
Thabit said an electricity line supplying power from Israel to Khan Yunis district was also disconnected at 8:00 a.m. However, the Israelis notified the Gaza company that the grid would be reconnected by 3:00 p.m., Thabit added.
Power to the Gaza Strip has been disconnected number of times over the last month due to what Egyptian authorities have told Gaza was for maintenance or technical issues.
The besieged enclave’s over 1.8 million Palestinian residents struggle with constant power shortages. The strip’s sole power plant has not run at full capacity in years due to the near-decade long Israeli military blockade on the strip, as well as repeated bombings by Israeli military forces.
Even running at full capacity, the power plant -- alongside Egyptian and Israeli electricity grids -- would fail to cover the territory's energy needs.
