Hamas, Egypt form plan to solve electricity crisis

Hamas Gazan leader Ismail Haneya reached an agreement with Egypt to resolve the electricity crisis in the coastal enclave, an aide to Haneya said Thursday. Haneya reached the deal after talking with the Egyptian officials, said Yousef Rizka, Haneya's political advisor. Electricity will be available in Gaza around the clock when a three-phase project gets completed in a year and a half, Rizka told Xinhua. In the first phase, Egypt will provide Gaza with diesel for its only power plant, which has stopped for two weeks due to a lack of fuel. Until last year, industrial diesel to the plant came from Israel, but Israeli restrictions made the supplies irregular and insufficient. Hamas authorities started to bring the diesel from Egypt illegally via underground tunnels. On Saturday, Hamas rejected an Egyptian offer to ship the diesel officially through Gaza's commercial crossing points, which are controlled by Israel. According to the new agreement, Egypt will not ship the diesel to Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing, Rizka said. Haneya and Egypt agreed to add five megawatts to the amount of electricity that comes directly from Egypt. As a result, southern parts of Gaza will get 22 megawatts instead of 17. In the second phase, the electricity purchased from Egypt will increase by 40 megawatts and the fourth turbine in Gaza's power plant will be repaired, Rizka said. The current capacity of Gaza's power station, together with electricity purchased from Israel and Egypt, can only supply for 62 percent of Gaza's electricity needs, which have never been fully met.