Gaza will run out of fuel by Sunday — Israeli defense official

The Gaza Strip will run out of fuel for its electricity generators by Sunday, an Israeli defense official tells reporters.

According to the official, who is speaking on condition of anonymity, Gaza is down to having just five hours of electricity per day, after having 16 hours per day on average before the fighting.

Some of this is due to Israel shutting down the Kerem Shalom Crossing, which is normally used to send fuel into Gaza, and some of this is because rockets fired by terrorists in the enclave struck some of the power lines into the Strip near the city of Rafah.

According to the official, three of the four turbines that normally run in Hamas’s power plant are currently out of service as a result of the fuel shortage.
Gaza’s water supply has also been affected by the power cuts, limiting the amount of running water in the Strip to once every two days, the official says.

According to the Israeli defense official, residents of the Gaza Strip appear to be extremely concerned about the fighting and are largely hiding in their homes. He says there is also anger among the population because the fighting has prevented them from celebrating the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday.