Gaza days away from blackout amid Israeli attacks

GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Gaza Strip’s only power plant is running out of fuel and will stop operation within days, a Palestinian spokesman warned on Monday.

“Israel is preventing the entry of fuel to the power plant in Gaza,” Mohammad Thabet from the Electricity Distribution Company of Gaza, told a press conference in Gaza City.

The spokesman called for piling pressure on Israel to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, Gaza’s only functional commercial crossing, to allow the entry of fuel into the Palestinian territory.

“The available fuel is sufficient to operate the power plant for only two or three days,” Thabet said.

The spokesman estimated the company’s losses due to the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip at around $8 million.

At least 198 Palestinians have been killed, including 58 children and 34 women, in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last week, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 1,235 people have also been injured and tens of buildings destroyed or damaged in the Israeli assault.

Ten Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report