(Palestinian Information Center) Gaza’s Energy Authority Monday raised alarm bells over chronic power blackouts rocking the blockaded Gaza Strip due to acute shortages in fuel reserves. Spokesperson for the Energy Authority, Ahmad Abu al-Amarein, said only 1.5 million liters of fuel were shipped last week to Gaza’s power plant, half of whose electricity generators need at least 300,000 liters per day to function properly. “The quantity dispatched last week meets the requirements of no more than five days,” he warned. “Hadn’t we been resorting to rationing as the ultimate emergency way-out of the crisis, Gaza’s power plant would cease to function starting on Thursday,” he added. Al-Amarein further drew attention to the huge amounts of fuel and funds needed to work out the power crisis in besieged Gaza, saying that inflation in the price of Israeli fuel and the taxes imposed by the Ramallah-based authorities, along with the shrinkage in collected bill rates and the latest Israeli offensive on Gaza, have sparked an urgent appeal for emergency supplies.
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