Gaza in danger of widespread blackout

The Gaza Energy Authority has announced on Saturday that the only remaining power plant in the Gaza Strip would run out of fuel by the evening, causing a wide-scale blackout. Energy official Muhammad Abu al-Amreen appealed to Egypt to deliver more fuel to Gaza to avert the crisis, according to Ma''an news agency. A recent trip by Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh to Egypt had secured pledges to deliver more electricity, but they are far from being executed, he said. The fuel shortage follows increasing unrest in the Sinai peninsula, where Egyptian security forces are in conflict with a Bedouin tribe whose members have attacked police and kidnapped foreign tourists. Earlier this month, President of Energy and Natural Resources Authority in Palestine Dr. Omar Katana had stressed the importance of speeding the incorporation of the Gaza Strip to the Eight Country Interconnection Project with neighboring Arab countries in order to minimize an electricity crisis pressuring citizens in light of a 12-hour electric shortage everyday. The Eight Country Interconnection Project involves interconnecting the electrical grids of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey.