Israel Attacks Gaza’s Only Power Plant, Knocking Out Power for a Year

Gazans Urged to Ration Water as Pumps Grind to a Halt

Adding to the humanitarian calamity in the ongoing Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, the nation’s military attacked Gaza’s only power plant, a diesel-fueled plant which provides roughly two-thirds of electricity for the strip’s 1.8 million people.

Lack of reliable fuel supplies have kept the plant running only intermittently, and locals were reporting only about three hours of electricity a day. Now, they’re down to basically none.

The director of the Gaza City electricity authority confirmed “the power plant is finished,” and that it will likely take a full year or more before it is repaired enough to resume generation.

The problem is even deeper than just electricity for civilian homes, as the water pumps in the strip also ground to a halt today for lack of power. Gaza City officials are urging civilians to carefully ration water consumption, and prepare for shortages.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.