Gaza residents on Sunday had their electricity cut from eight hours a day to just six, after the only power station in the Gaza Strip stopped operating.

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The local energy authority said it had no option but to shut the plant down due to unpaid bills and taxes in a row between the Palestinian Authority government and the Islamic movement Hamas, which seized the enclave in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority; in control of the West Bank.

The two factions have been involved in a bitter dispute over tax bills on fuel imports amid a long-running border blockade by Israel and Egypt that has worsened power shortages.

The head of the energy provider, Samir Metir, said that all the plant's fuel, purchased in January with funding from Qatar and Turkey, had been used up.

The two countries stepped in earlier this year after the coastal Palestinian territory saw its worst power shortage in years, when electricity was cut to just three hours a day during a cold winter.

Metir said it was not clear when the Palestinian territory would receive more power.

The latest closure means Gaza's roughly 2 million residents will have to rely on electricity supplied by Israel and Egypt.

According to international groups, 80 per cent of the Gaza population lives on humanitarian aid, and more than half is impoverished.

More than two-thirds of households don't pay their electricity bills, in part because they can't afford it, according to the "Times of Israel."

The Maan news agency cited a Palestinian government spokesman as accusing Hamas of collecting millions of shekels from Gaza residents for electricity without forwarding the payments.

The Gaza Health Ministry warned that there could be serious repercussions for health services due to the power outage. There are also fears that drinking water supplies will be affected. </s> The Gaza Strip’s only functioning power plant was not functioning Sunday after running out of fuel, the head of the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave’s electricity provider told AFP.

Samir Metir said that all the plant’s fuel, purchased with funding from Qatar and Turkey, had been used up.

He said it was not clear when the Palestinian territory would receive more, owing to a “dispute” between the electricity authority in Gaza and Palestinian authorities in the West Bank.

The Gaza Health Ministry warned of a humanitarian crisis as a result.

The terror group Hamas seized power in Gaza in a violent coup in 2007 from the Ramallah-based Fatah organization of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Israel and Egypt then initiated a security blockade meant to prevent the terror group, avowedly committed to the destruction of Israel, from importing weaponry and materiel into Gaza.

Fuel supply for the Strip’s two million inhabitants has been a long-running source of dispute, with most homes in Gaza receiving two eight-hour periods of electricity a day even when the plant is operating normally.

Protests broke out in January over the power shortages, which the Gaza Health Ministry warned could have “dangerous consequences” for patients.

As things stand, residents can expect two six-hour periods of electricity, Metir said, “including electricity bought from Israel and Egypt.”

Israel last week warned of the upcoming fuel crisis, warning Hamas that it must pay for the diesel fuel it consumes, which is supplied by Israeli energy company Dor.

In mid-September, Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement to resolve the Palestinians’ outstanding debt of almost NIS 2 billion ($530 million) to the Israel Electric Corporation.

The agreement was signed by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Yoav Mordechai, Palestinian Authority Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheik, Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Israel’s Ministry of Finance Director-General Shai Babad.

The IEC began to scale back the electricity flow to West Bank Palestinian cities in late May and early April due to the debt. Power supplies to Jericho and Bethlehem were limited, causing some blackouts, and the company threatened to do the same in other West Bank areas.

The agreement with the IEC from September did not affect the situation in the Gaza Strip. </s> Two million Palestinians in the besieged territory now down to a few hours of electricity a day as tensions rise.

The Gaza Strip's only functioning power plant has shut down after running out of fuel, leaving two million people in the Hamas-governed Palestinian territory with only six hours of electricity a day.

Samir Metir, head of Gaza's electricity provider, told AFP news agency that all the plant's fuel, purchased with funding from Qatar and Turkey, had been used up.

He said it was not clear when the territory would receive another shipment, owing to a "dispute" between the electricity authority in Gaza and Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007 from Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

A mooted power-sharing agreement between the two factions in Gaza has failed to materialise, and residents have been subjected to a decade-long Israeli blockade, strangling the local economy and severely limiting supplies.

Metir said the power plant cannot afford to pay the enormous fuel taxes imposed by the PA.

"Today we had about six hours of electricity at my house. Now it's off for the next 12 hours," Ezz Zanoun, a photographer in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

"Tomorrow we're expecting it to be less, probably about four hours [of electricity] - and from there the real problems start."

Protests broke out in January over the power shortages, which the Gaza health ministry said could have "dangerous consequences" for patients in hospitals.

The crisis was resolved by tax-free donations from Qatar and Turkey, which ran out last week. But now the PA is no longer willing to waive the fuel for Gaza.

Fuel supply for Gaza's two million inhabitants has been a long-running source of dispute, with most homes in the territory receiving two eight-hour periods of electricity a day even when the power plant is operating normally.

As things stand, residents can expect two six-hour periods of electricity, Metir said, "including electricity bought from Israel and Egypt".

Zanoun told Al Jazeera that due to shifting schedules, households are often relegated to only six-hour period a day.

At least 65 percent of residents in Gaza live in poverty, 72 percent are food-insecure, and 80 percent have grown dependent on international aid, according to a recent report published by the EU-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Unemployment in the territory hit an unprecedented 43 percent in the last quarter of 2016.

A Fatah-led delegation is expected to travel to Gaza later this month to discuss reunification efforts with Hamas. </s> (CNN) Gaza's only power plant has run out of fuel, leaving 2 million residents of the coastal enclave with only four hours of electricity a day in what the UN cautions could be the tipping point to making Gaza "unlivable."

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza blame each other for the energy shortage.

The power generating authority in Gaza says it cannot afford to buy more fuel for the plant -- mostly because of taxes imposed by the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Authority claims that the Hamas officials in Gaza are simply incapable of running the plant efficiently.

In January, as wide-scale protests erupted in Gaza sparked by the lack of electricity, Qatar and Turkey agreed to provide a 3-month supply of fuel for the power plant, enough for 6-12 hours of electricity a day.

That supply was exhausted on Sunday, forcing Gazans to prepare for a life with even less electricity. Gaza will only have access to electricity imported from Israel and Egypt, which meets less than a third of demand.

The Gaza Ministry of Health on Monday warned of a health crisis and the possibility of delayed or canceled surgeries if the disagreement isn't resolved within 48 hours.

"If, in two days from today, the issue will not be solved, then we will have to cancel between 200-250 surgeries a day," Dr. Ashraf Al Qedra, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said.

"All will be affected by the electricity cut."

Lives 'start when the electricity comes on'

"It totally changed our daily lives into focusing only on when we have electricity," said Nivin Abu Marahil, 35, from central Gaza. "We have changed three refrigerator and four washing machines (in 10 years), as they get damaged each time the electricity goes off and on.

"We stopped buying food that we should store in a fridge. We buy every day what we need to cook on that day. Our lives start when the electricity is on, no matter if it does at night or during the day."

At a news conference held Monday, Gaza power authority Deputy Chairman Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil accused the Palestinian Authority and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah of attempting to "ignite an electricity crisis in Gaza."

Khalil said fuel taxes imposed by the Palestinian Authority more than double the cost of fuel and make it impossible to operate the plant consistently.

"We demand that everyone press the government of Hamdallah to stop the taxation of fuel stations so we can buy and operate the power plant," Khalil said.

Fuad Al-Shobaki, the director-general of the Palestinian Authority's Petroleum Authority in the West Bank, blamed Hamas for manufacturing a crisis, saying in a statement released last week that there was no electricity shortage in Gaza before Hamas took over more than 10 years ago. He said Hamas was unable "to cover their inability to manage the Gaza Strip."

The fuel shortage is one more problem for Hamas-controlled Gaza, which is already dealing with soaring unemployment and a lack of drinkable water.

Robert Piper, the UN deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told The Jerusalem Post: "The UN has been warning for some years that the chronic problems of Gaza are accumulating to the extent that we may be approaching a tipping point at which Gaza becomes unlivable."

Gaza also has to contend with an Israeli land and sea blockade and restrictions on movements of goods and people, which Piper said is the primary cause of Gaza's problems, making a viable economy in Gaza impossible. The border with Egypt is also closed most of the time, opening only rarely for short periods.

The dispute over fuel is the latest flare-up in a long-running feud between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a militant Islamist group which ousted Fatah when it took over Gaza in 2007. Last week, the Palestinian Authority cut the salaries of Fatah employees in Gaza in an attempt to put economic pressure on Hamas.

The decision was met with protests in Gaza, even by Fatah members, who were angry about the timing of the cuts. Mohammad, a Palestinian Authority employee in Gaza who did not want CNN to use his last name for safety reasons, said his salary was cut from approximately $1,000 a month to $700.

"I would happily have accepted this decision if it was in favor of bringing people together and reconciliation," Mohammad said, "but I know it will bring us a worse life than what we have now. People in the street see this step as the drums of war."

Last week, Prime Minister Hamdallah demanded that Hamas cede power to the Palestinian Authority, according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority news agency.

Hamdallah said the salaries would be reimbursed once Hamas accepts Palestinian Authority governance. A Fatah delegation will head to Gaza next week to attempt to advance reconciliation between the West Bank and Gaza, seen as a necessary step for aspirations of a Palestinian state. </s> Rachel is a Verdict reporter covering global business, finance, and politics. You can reach her at rachel.dobbs@verdict.co.uk

Israel will allow Palestinians in the West Bank to distribute and control their own electricity for the first time.

Israeli authorities today signed a deal that gives the self-ruling Palestinian Authority responsibility for the three million Palestinians living in the Israel-occupied territory and will allow them to build new power plants.

Previously the area had to rely on Israel for its electricity needs.

The deal lasts for 15 years and is worth $775 million. The deal requires the Palestine Authority to pay off a 915-million-shekel debt to Israel Electric Corp (IEC), which is a state-owned utility company.

Israel and the Palestine Authority have frequently clashed over unpaid debts since talks on a Palestinian state broke down in 2014.

While the new deal allows the Palestinian Authority to take charge of energy distribution in the West Bank, it does not include the Gaza Strip.

The two million Palestinians in the area have frequent blackouts because of fuel shortages and disputes between Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers and the Palestinian Authority.

Power cuts in Gaza can last for up to 18 hours a day, because the electricity supplied by Israel, Egypt and a local plant is less than half of the 600 megawatts generally required to satisfy daily needs.

The Palestinian Electricity Transmission Company will build four new power plants to channel electricity supply to the West Bank. The power itself will sold to the company by the IEC.

Hussein Al-Sheikh, who leads the Palestine Authority’s civil affairs agency, celebrated the move. </s> GAZA (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday it asked Israel to fully restore Israeli electricity flows to the Gaza Strip, a move that could nearly double the daily connection time in an enclave suffering severe power shortages. 

 There was no immediate word from Israel whether it would comply at a time when it says the Islamist Hamas group, which controls Gaza, bears overall responsibility for recent cross-border rocket attacks launched by smaller militant factions.

 In a statement, Hussein Al-Sheikh, Palestinian minister of civil affairs, said the Palestinian Authority would again guarantee payment of Gaza's Israeli electricity bill and ask Israel to restore the 50 megawatts of power, out of a total 120 megawatts, that it had supplied to the area.

 A statement issued by Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah said the request was to "alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza and to improve living conditions."

 Gaza's two million residents now receive only three to four hours of electricity a day, with schools, factories, hospitals and households affected. A Gaza economist said restoration of power from Israel, the enclave's main electricity supplier, could raise that figure to six hours. Gaza's sole power station generates only a small amount of electricity.

 In April, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced he was cancelling the guarantee, part of a bid to press Hamas to loosen its hold over the enclave, a decade after the Islamist movement seized the territory from forces loyal to him.

 Prompted partly by Abbas's sanctions and fears of financial and political isolation, Hamas signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement with his Fatah movement in October and agreed to hand over administrative control of the Gaza Strip to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

 But both groups have failed to finalize details of the deal, which had been due to be completed on December 1. The Authority's decision to resume the electricity payments could help smooth the way towards completing the accord.

 The PA's request coincides with heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions. 

 Palestinians have been mounting protests in the occupied West Bank and violence has flared along the Israel-Gaza border since U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Dec. 6 that he was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

 In the West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli troops shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian during a confrontation with stone-throwing protesters, Palestinian medics said. An Israeli military spokeswoman said he appeared to have been holding a firearm.

 His death raised to 13 the number of Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Trump's declaration, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. There have been no Israeli fatalities or serious injuries in the confrontations or as a result of the rocket strikes.

 Two Hamas gunmen were killed in one Israeli retaliatory air strike in December.

 

 (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and William Maclean) </s> Israel reopens its only goods crossing with Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Israel reopened its only goods crossing with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in response to relative calm on the border after months of tensions prompted a blockade on most goods from July 9.

An AFP journalist at the Kerem Shalom crossing said dozens of trucks carrying various types of goods, including fuel, began passing into the blockaded Palestinian enclave run by Hamas.

Both Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed the reopening of the crossing, a key lifeline for Gazans and their crippled economy.

Israel also returned the fishing zone it enforces off the Gaza Strip to nine nautical miles in the south of the enclave. The limit is six nautical miles in the north, which borders Israel.

Israeli authorities announced on July 9 that the goods crossing was being closed to most deliveries, partly in response to kites and balloons being flown across the border carrying firebombs to burn Israeli farmland.

Food and medicines have been allowed through, but fuel had been intermittently blocked, including since August 2. All other goods were turned away.

The fuel ban exacerbated an electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip, which already suffers from severe power shortages and relies on generators in many cases.

Gaza border protests broke out on March 30 and have led to months of tension that have also seen several military flare-ups.

At least 169 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire since March 30, mostly during clashes and protests.

One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper in July.

Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008. </s> Third Palestinian dies of his wounds after Friday’s protests on Gaza border

Israel reopened its only goods crossing with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday in response to relative calm on the border after months of tensions prompted a blockade on most goods from July 9.

An AFP journalist at the Kerem Shalom crossing said dozens of trucks carrying various types of goods, including fuel, began passing into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army said the crossing is opened for "full activity."

A Gaza fishing zone, a key source of income for a few thousand fishermen, will return to nine nautical miles after being restricted to six miles as part of the extra controls, the army added.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Wednesday that he decided to ease the restrictions "as a clear message to residents of the Gaza Strip: Quiet pays and violence does not pay."

Israeli authorities announced on July 9 that the goods crossing was being closed to most deliveries, partly in response to kites and balloons being flown across the border carrying firebombs to burn Israeli farmland.

Food and medicines have been allowed through, but fuel had been intermittently blocked, including since August 2. All other goods were turned away.

The fuel ban exacerbated an electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip, which already suffers from severe power shortages and relies on generators in many cases.

Gaza border protests broke out on March 30 and have led to months of tension that have also seen several military flare-ups.

At least 169 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire since March 30, mostly during clashes and protests.

One Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian sniper in July.

Israel, along with Egypt, has blocked the Gaza Strip - home to some 2 million people - since Hamas seized power in 2007. Israel cites security reasons for the blockade while the UN and human rights groups have criticized the blockade as collective punishment.

Hamas militants in Gaza and Israel have fought three wars since 2008. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Wednesday opened its only cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip weeks after closing it amid a surge in violence with the Islamic militant group Hamas.

The reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing came as Egypt was stepping up efforts to broker a lasting cease-fire. It was not clear if the move was part of a broader deal in the works.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that the reopening of the crossing was “a clear message to residents of the Strip: Quiet pays and violence doesn’t pay.”

Kerem Shalom is the main commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and serves as the primary avenue for food, fuel, construction materials and aid to enter the beleaguered Palestinian territory. Israel and Egypt have imposed an economically crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized control of the coastal territory from the internationally backed Palestinian Authority in 2007.

Israel says the blockade is needed to contain Hamas, a militant group that seeks its destruction. While the closure has devastated Gaza’s economy, it has failed to oust Hamas or loosen its grip on power.

In the past month, Israel and Hamas have engaged in three rounds of heavy fighting, with Hamas firing dozens of rockets into Israel and the Israeli military carrying out dozens of airstrikes in Gaza. The latest fighting ended a week ago.

Israel halted Gaza commercial imports last month, and terminated fuel shipments almost two weeks ago in response to incendiary kites and balloons launched from Gaza that have burned forest and farmland in southern Israel. Israel temporarily suspended fuel shipments to Gaza in July for similar reasons.

Fuel shortages in Gaza have contributed to chronic power outages that have left its 2 million residents with just a few hours of electricity a day. The United Nations had warned that the closure of the crossing would make the situation even worse.

In addition to reopening the crossing Wednesday, Israel also eased restrictions on fishing off Gaza’s coast.

“The residents of Gaza have much to gain when the citizens of Israel enjoy peace and security, and much to lose when quiet is disturbed,” Lieberman said.

Hamas is demanding an end to the decade-long blockade as a condition for a long-term truce. Israel is believed to be offering a more limited easing of the closures.

Israel is demanding a halt to all rocket fire and incendiary balloon attacks, and wants Hamas to return the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers and free two Israeli civilians it is believed to be holding.

In recent months, Hamas has led regular mass protests along the border that are partly aimed at lifting the blockade. Since the protests began in March, at least 164 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 121 protesters. During that time, a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier.

Israel says it is defending its border against attempts by Hamas to infiltrate and carry out attacks. But it has come under heavy international criticism over the large number of unarmed protesters who have been killed or wounded.

Lieberman said his country “will do everything to ensure the security of the citizens of Israel, and if Hamas turns to violence again, we will respond immediately and in a much more severe manner than before.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing and the expansion of the fishing zone off Gaza, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Guterres “is encouraged to see that those concerned have responded to calls to avoid the devastating impact of yet another conflict on the civilian population in and around Gaza,” he said.

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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The Gaza Strip's sole power plant is shut down due to running out of fuel, amid unpaid bills and a dispute over tax bills on fuel imports to the blockaded Palestinian territory.