RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Egypt has agreed to help ease Gaza's chronic power shortages as part of a three-stage plan that would eventually hook up the isolated territory to the regional grid, a Palestinian energy official said Monday.Such a deal would represent a major leap in Cairo's involvement in Hamas-ruled Gaza, and another step away from Egyptian cooperation with the Israeli blockade imposed after the militant group's 2007 takeover.
Gaza has suffered frequent blackouts and fuel shortages since the blockade was imposed. Rolling power cuts intensified last week when Gaza's only power plant shut down because of a growing shortage in black market fuel reaching the territory through underground tunnels.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had sided with Israel in enforcing the Gaza blockade, trying to isolate the Islamists on his doorstep. However, since taking over last year, Egypt's new rulers have eased Gaza's isolation.
| Since the new rulers and Hamas are from the same extended family... |
The Egyptian official confirmed plans to gradually increase the Gaza power supply, both by sending more power from Egypt and by repairing the power plant, and to hook up Gaza to the regional grid.
Omar Kittaneh, head of the Palestinian Energy Authority, said Egypt proposed a three-stage plan for the power shortages, to be funded by the Islamic Development Bank. In the first stage, Egypt would increase its electricity flow to Gaza by three to five megawatts in coming days.
In all, Gaza's 1.7 million people need about 360 megawatts per day. Of that, Egypt supplied about 17 megawatts, Israel provided 120 megawatts against payment while the local power plant produced about 70 megawatts, Kittaneh said.
In coming weeks, engineers will set up a new transmitter and try to restore the Gaza power plant -- hit in an Israeli air strike in 2006 -- to full services, Kittaneh said. The repairs and the new transmitter should increase electricity output by at least another 140 megawatt, he added.
In the final stage, Gaza would be linked to the regional grid that includes Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.
The Egyptian official said the energy deal is part of a wider Egyptian effort to cut down on smuggling to Gaza.
| Or to let the tunnel rats focus on moving weapons, ammo and cash... |