European commission: The PA asked EU to stop paying for fuel needs of Gaza power plant

European commission: The PA asked EU to stop paying for fuel needs of Gaza power plant

 

GAZA, — European commission spokesman Shadi Othman revealed that the European union stopped paying the bill of fuel shipments used to operate Gaza power plant at the request of the Palestinian authority (PA) in Ramallah.

Othman told Safa news agency that PA and EU officials met last November to discuss funding priorities, when the PA requested funds be used for paying salaries of civil servants and social assistance rather than fuel and pledged to take full responsibility for the bill.

According to official estimates, almost all Gaza areas will plunge into darkness later on Wednesday unless sufficient amounts of industrial diesel are allowed in.

The authority of power and natural resources in Gaza announced today that it will shut down the last generator in Gaza power plant on Thursday morning because of the depletion of its fuel stocks.

For his part, Egyptian lawmaker Mustafa Awadallah said Wednesday that the European union’s decision to stop covering the costs of industrial fuel for the Gaza power plant is a mean of pressure on the Palestinian government in the Gaza Strip to force it to comply with Israel’s demands.

Awadallah also strongly denounced Egypt for supplying Israel with electricity while providing Gaza with nothing.