'What electricity?': In Gaza without power, Israeli decision compounds woes

The announcement Sunday by Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen followed a decision to block the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip in a bid to pressure Hamas to extend a fragile ceasefire on Israel's terms.

But for many in the Palestinian territory where Israel had imposed a "complete siege" at the start of the war in October 2023, living without electricity has become the norm.

"What electricity do they want to cut?" said Mortaja, 40.

"There is no electricity in Gaza".

Of the nearly dozen high-voltage power lines cut at the start of the war -- along with food and water supply -- one was reconnected by Israel in November to restart Gaza's main water desalination plant.

On Monday, employees at the facility in the central city of Deir el-Balah filled large tanks with water that had been treated before the cut-off, which brought the plant to a near-complete halt.

Around 600,000 people -- about a quarter of Gaza's population -- rely on the plant's supply of drinking water, according to UN figures.

Solar panels, which together with fuel-powered generators have become key sources of electricity in Gaza, allow only for extremely limited activity at the desalination plant, said a UN source.

Instead, many people are now left to rely on brackish well water or the occasional supply of potable water from international humanitarian aid groups, added the source involved in work in the Gaza Strip.
Power grid ravaged
Announcing the electricity cut on the eve of a new round of ceasefire negotiations in Qatar, Cohen said Israel "will use all the tools at our disposal" to secure the release of hostages held by Gaza militants since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Hamas called Cohen's decision "cheap and unacceptable blackmail" as the sides fail to agree a path toward a permanent end to their war.

The first phase of the fragile Gaza truce began on January 19 and ended in early March, with no agreement yet on subsequent stages.

More than 15 months of intense Israeli bombardment and fighting before the truce began had left electricity pylons collapsed and mangled across Gaza.

One official from the Gaza Electricity Company, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Israeli attacks "destroyed 70 percent of the electricity distribution networks".

At night, the territory is plunged into almost total darkness.

In the relatively few buildings left standing, the odd window is illuminated by a small square of white LED light.

The war has displaced nearly all of Gaza's 2.4 million inhabitants and triggered widespread hunger, according to the UN, with hundreds of thousands living in tents as their homes were damaged or destroyed.

"Cutting electricity will only worsen our suffering," said Jihan Khalil, 35, who has taken shelter in a school building in Nuseirat refugee camp.
'Went back to 50 years ago'
For 47-year-old Baha al-Helou, living conditions were as if "we went back to 50 years ago".

"We sleep without electricity, wash our clothes by hand, cook with wood, and there is no gas for cooking," he told AFP.

"Now our lives depend on wood, fire and candles."

From apartment blocks to hospitals, fuel-powered generators have been a common alternative for years in Gaza, where the electricity supply was precarious even before the war, in part due to a crippling Israeli-led blockade.

Israel's power supply to Gaza depended on payments from the Palestinian Authority -- based in the occupied West bank, a separate territory, and dominated by political rivals of Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority had previously withheld funds as a means of exerting pressure on Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.

Carpenter Hani Ajour said he had little choice but to use a public generator in the street.

But that option is expensive, and he can only afford to plug in his machines for a few minutes a day.

Some Gazans rely on solar panels, but these are less efficient and sell for around $2,000, a fortune in the impoverished territory.

For the most destitute, street vendors offer to charge telephones on a multi-socket cable for a few Israeli shekels, the equivalent of several quarter dollars.