The International Commission “Hashd”: The time has come to put an end to the Gaza Strip’s seventeen years of suffering as a result of the failure to find solutions to the electrical problem.

Reference number: 64/2023

Date: July 18, 2023

Native language: Arabic

Press release

The International Commission “Hashd”: The time has come to put an end to the Gaza Strip’s seventeen years of suffering as a result of the failure to find solutions to the electrical problem.

In a press statement issued today, The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights “Hashd” confirmed that it is following and monitoring the growing severity of the Gaza Strip’s electricity crisis with great concern, after making adjustments by seeing two or three hours to the cut-off period set for 08 hours according to the electricity distribution schedule. This corresponds with the present heat wave; in a situation that has been repeated annually for the last seventeen years without the capacity to discover substantial answers that rely on generating public attention and move beyond the patchwork technique that has proven ineffectual.

The International Commission “Hashd” stated that the exacerbation of the power outage crisis in the Gaza Strip has created a state of general discontent among large segments of the Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continuous introduction of the Palestinian citizen into such circumstances over the past years, and under justifications that have become unacceptable to the citizen who is burdened by the successive crises of the electric current, and the consequent suffering of citizens and a possible health and environmental disaster that may occur at any moment.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights “Hashd” emphasized that the content of its statement is a message to all relevant Palestinian parties to assume their legal and moral responsibilities for urgent work to find a solution to the Gaza Strip’s electricity crisis, including responding to the demand to operate the fourth generator and reviewing the concession contract signed between the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Electricity Generating Company; Services, rights, and freedoms deviate from the dangers of political division, and overcoming obstacles to the implementation of strategic solutions to this crisis.

The International Commission “Hashd” stressed the Israeli occupation’s fundamental obligation to offer all that would enable and safeguard the lives of the Gaza Strip’s inhabitants as a militarily occupied region. The international organization voiced dismay at all Palestinian groups’ incapacity in the face of this recurrent catastrophe, owing to the continued state of division and the lack of national plans to handle national and humanitarian problems and difficulties.

The International Commission “Hashd” urged the necessary official authorities to intervene positively to find an immediate solution to the electrical issue, especially given the current circumstances. This includes nationalizing and developing the Gaza Strip’s two electrical generating and distribution businesses, increasing dependence on solar energy, guaranteeing that the poor and needy have access to electricity, and standardizing the smart meter rate.

The International Commission’s “Hashd” held all Palestinian parties legally responsible for the disastrous consequences of the current electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip, and it calls on the Energy Authority to ensure that the power plant is fully operational in extreme heat conditions, as well as to develop solutions to mitigate the repercussions of the electricity crisis and its repercussions on citizens.

The International Commission ”Hashd” appealed to the international community and all of its humanitarian organizations to intervene urgently to put pressure on the Israeli belligerent occupation to stop its systematic policies against the Gaza Strip aimed at deepening the sector’s humanitarian crises, particularly the electricity crisis, to ensure the fulfillment of its moral and legal obligations towards civilians in the Gaza Strip, under international humanitarian law.

In conclusion, The International Commission ”Hashd” urged the international community, including all humanitarian organizations, the Palestinian Authority, and Arab and Islamic countries, to intervene urgently to lift the blockade and sanctions on the Gaza Strip and work to end the power outage crisis in the Gaza Strip through all possible and available means, including work to reconnect the power line with the Arab Republic of Egypt and increase the amount if available, and connect the Gaza electricity network to the eight electricity network, and contribute to the completion of the project to operate the power plant with natural gas, and support alternative solutions such as relying on solar energy and providing it easily to citizens.

Finished.

The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights “Hashd”