Gaza plans to strengthen connections to Egypt's electric grid

Mohamed Awad, deputy Hamas prime minister, announced that Egypt and the Hamas government have agreed to connect their electrical grids, "so as to end the power crisis in the Gaza Strip completely and irrevocably."

He said, "We are in contact with our brothers in Egypt to increase the amount of electricity received from the Egyptian side...we are seeking the introduction of tools, equipment and maintenance of electrical turbines,and will run the power plant at full capacity to alleviate the crisis."

He hoped that the PA government wouldn't do anything to stand in the way of what appears to be an agreement directly between Egypt and Hamas.

Hamas already spurns any power plant diesel coming from Israel.

Meanwhile, Egyptians in the northern Sinai are complaining that there is a severe shortage of gas cylinders - because armed gangs are stealing them and smuggling them to Gaza for a profit. Their price on the black market has skyrocketed.