Qatar, the United Nations and the European Union have finally reached an agreement for the supply of gas from Israel to the Gaza power plant. As a logical and desired consequence, the electricity production capacity in the Strip will progressively increase, thus reducing costs. This was announced by the emissary of Qatar for Israeli-Palestinian issues Mohammed al Amadi. The project involves the sale of gas to the Palestinian National Authority by the company Chevron Delek and the construction of a pipeline between Israel and Gaza, which will begin shortly and will be completed within two years. The European Union will invest five million dollars. Al-Amadi also said that his country is willing to continue supporting the Gaza economy as long as calm remains in the area and hostilities cease. Even the Israeli minister for energy Yuval Steinitz confirmed the interest in the implementation of the agreement.
Israel controls the import of diesel fuel needed to run the Strip's only power plant, built in 2002. In 2000, a natural gas deposit was discovered off the coast of Gaza, but the Israeli-imposed embargo prevented to use it, which made it necessary to purchase fuel only from Israel, which also sells electricity to the Palestinians, through Israel Electric Corp.
In 2006, Israel first bombed the power plant, which it had to shut down. At that point, the Egyptian government - paid for by the Palestinian Authority - decided to help out by providing electricity to the residents of the Rafah area. The plant returned to operation in December 2007, but since then a cycle of openings and closures has begun due to regular bombing, a lack of spare parts and interruptions in Israel's fuel supply.
In 2009, the European Union stopped financing the purchase of diesel for the power plant. Until then, European funds had flowed to the Palestinian Authority, which used it to pay for fuel imported into Gaza. At that point a dispute began between Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Fatah, which rules the PA in the West Bank. Who had to pay for the fuel? Hamas - the Palestinian Authority accuses - has refused to do its part to contribute to lost European funds. This lack of collaboration is partly due to opposition to the PA's taxes on fuel purchases - taxes the PA defends, as it, it says, spends other resources on development and support in Gaza. Additionally, the power plant is run by a private company - a legacy of Yasser Arafat - and the contract it has with the Palestinian Authority requires the latter to pay $ 2,5 million a month regardless of how much electricity is produced.
Over the years, clashes between Hamas and Fatah have been central to the energy crisis. In June 2017, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and Minister for Civil Affairs, tried - through a form of collective punishment - to pressure Hamas to surrender control of the Strip. They then asked the Israeli government to reduce electricity supplied to Gaza by 30% (the measure was later abandoned in January 2018).
In November 2018, the Qatari government announced a $ 60 million donation to purchase fuel, which the United Nations buys from Israel and then imports to Gaza to run additional turbines at the power plant.
Yesterday, the news of the new agreement brings hope back to territories where fires are increasingly used to warm up and wax candles to illuminate homes.