Amira Hass: Powerless in Gaza, residents rely on the tunnels
November 10, 2008 Amira Hass No CommentsAmira Hass / Powerless in Gaza, residents rely on the tunnels - Haaretz, Nov. 10, 2008
Since Sunday morning, Gaza City has gone back to readying for long blackouts. In the Tel el Hawa neighborhood in the southern part of the city, the electricity went out at 8 a.m. When children came home from school, the lights had still not come back on. When their parents returned from work, the electricity was still out.
The parents had to climb six stories with baskets from the market; even when the lights are working, it’s best not to use the elevators, because you never know when the power will be cut. The sun set, and 8-year-old Karim told his father it would not be his fault if he couldn’t study for his English test, and brought home a 98 instead of 100 (he had been promised NIS 20 for a perfect score).
In the center of the Gaza evening, car headlights cut the darkness on Omar al Mukhtar Boulevard, the Champs Elysees of Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Israel closed all crossings into Gaza and stopped the fuel supply, including industrial fuel. The Gaza power station can supply 80 megawatts a day, but needs 3.15 million liters of industrial fuel a week to do so. Starting January 17, however, Israel began reducing the supply, and the power station only gets 2.5 million liters a week.