UN says Gazans being held hostage to Palestinian feud

The United Nations says Wednesday that Gazans are being held hostage to Palestinian political infighting, warning that longer blackouts triggered by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas threatens a “total collapse” of basic services.

Gazans currently receive only three to four hours of electricity a day, delivered from the territory’s own power station and others in Israel and Egypt. Israel decided on Sunday to reduce the amount of electricity it supplies to Gaza by between 45 and 60 minutes a day after Abbas cut funding for it by his West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The move is widely seen as an attempt by the Palestinian leader to step up pressure on his rivals in the Islamist movement Hamas which runs Gaza.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied territories, Robert Piper, warns the additional power cuts would have a disastrous effect.

“A further increase in the length of blackouts is likely to lead to a total collapse of basic services, including critical functions in the health, water and sanitation sectors,” Piper says in a statement.

“The people in Gaza should not be held hostage to this longstanding internal Palestinian dispute,” he says.

— AFP