Israel's electricity embargo plunges Gaza into darkness! Palestinians are living with phones that cannot be charged
Israel's attacks on Gaza and electricity cuts have been ongoing for 13 months. In the region where electricity, water, and humanitarian aid have been cut off, Palestinians are struggling to survive every day. While solar panels and generators help a lucky minority survive, the restriction of aid entering the region is severely challenging the people of Gaza.
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The US newspaper The New York Times examined the problems caused by 13 months of power outages with its reporters in the region.
Maryam Abu Amra, who tries to calm her 6 children who panic when the sun goes down, is one of the victimized Palestinians.
In the neighborhood of the 36-year-old woman living in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, no light is seen other than the screens of barely charged mobile phones.
Maryam says, "Every night means a struggle for us. Sometimes when my children ask when the electricity will come, I have no answer to give. I never knew people needed electricity this much. I now wake up early so I don't miss a single minute of daylight."
Maryam Abu Amra adds that she gets up with the first hours of the morning to cook food over a fire and wash clothes by hand.
20-year-old Rasha Majid al-Attar also explains that they see the sun as "a blessing."
She says she takes 10 phones to be charged a few times a week. She says her family mostly uses these phones to calm children who cry in the dark.
She emphasizes that before the war, when she was a university student, they could run a refrigerator, TV, internet, washing machine, and oven:
I cannot believe we are living in the 21st century while struggling so much for the simplest things.
Israel, according to its claim, is cutting off electricity to weaken Hamas. However, even before the war, the economic embargo by Israel and Egypt limited the hours electricity was provided to Gaza.
Those who take precautions with generators and solar energy are considered lucky. Because along with the massacre, Israel prevents new panels from arriving. However, diesel is also not allowed into the region on the grounds that Hamas might use it.
A November 2023 report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies revealed that Gaza was competing for world leadership in solar panel density.
23-year-old Mohammed Samra turned it into a business by buying solar panels in December 2023 when he realized the war would last a long time.
Charging a mobile phone for one Israeli shekel, Samra says, "Everyone here benefits from these solar panels."
High demand has also driven up prices. Samra reports that he bought a control panel and 4 solar batteries along with 8 panels for 2,800 dollars, but now someone who wants to own them has to shell out 16,000 dollars.
Humanitarian aid organizations criticize the power outage in Gaza.
Georgios Petropoulos, who works in Gaza on behalf of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), also says, "Most of these are not caused by technical problems or supply shortages; these are political issues."
The statement made last autumn by Israel Katz, who became Minister of Defense the previous week, "Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no mains water will be provided, and no fuel tanker will enter until the Israeli hostages return home" also confirms Petropoulos.