Dozens of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday held demonstrations for the third straight day to protest the coastal enclave's ongoing power crisis.It appears that the protesters were not behind the burining of photos of Abbas - but Hamas was.
In the southern city of Rafah, protesters called for the resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's government over the crisis.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, residents of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps set tires alight in a demonstration held in front of Gaza's sole power station.
Hamas said that participants burnt photos of President Mahmoud Abbas, before the movement's police force dispersed the protest.
Local Fatah officials later "praised" the demonstration in posts on Facebook, but said they were "surprised" that pictures of Abbas and Hamdallah had been burnt.
The officials accused members of Hamas' military branch, al-Qassam Brigades, for burning the photos, and said: "We stood up against them."
Because PCHR says that Hamas has been quashing anti-Hamas demonstrations over the electricity shortage last Saturday and even confiscating reporters' cameras, memory cards and cars. It appears that Hamas realized that it could not stop the protests so instead they are trying to co-opt them and turn them into anti-Fatah protests - or at least tell people that the protests are anti-Fatah.
On September 1, the Egyptian power line into Gaza was damaged. I don't know if it was repaired yet.
But meanwhile, Ma'an cannot resist blaming Israel for the fuel shortage, by publishing bald-faced lies:
The plant requires 550,000 liters of fuel per day to produce at capacity, the energy authority says, although it has rarely been able to reach that amount, mostly due to the Israeli blockade which has limited fuel imports since 2007.No, Israel doesn't limit fuel to Gaza at all. As long as people pay, Israel pumps it over. The shortages is from arguments between Fatah and Hamas over taxes and funding.
In fact, Israel might do more to alleviate Gaza's power crisis:
Meanwhile, Israel is considering a plan proposed by Qatar to supply Gaza with natural gas. The plan would see Israel laying a new pipeline from Ashdod, where gas from the offshore Tamar field enters the country, to the power station in the Gaza Strip, located only a handful of kilometers to the south.Yes, Israel cooperating with Qatar, an ally of Hamas, to help Gazans get electricity.
The Gaza station, which currently can supply electricity for just eight hours each day, would be converted to work with the natural gas, expanding its output dramatically. The station was also damaged in an IAF strike during last summer’s war between Israel and Hamas. The IDF said that the station was not deliberately targeted.
According to the proposal by Muhammad al-Ahmadi, the head of Qatar’s committee for rehabilitating Gaza, the Gulf state would pay NIS 38.6 million ($10 million) toward infrastructure costs such as laying the pipeline. The gas itself would be paid for by the Palestinian Authority and private Palestinian funders under its auspices.
Ahmadi has also begun talks with private Israeli solar power companies to construct solar power fields in Israeli territory to produce 100 megawatts for Gaza’s use.
Doesn't exactly fit the meme of how Israel is trying to hurt innocent Gazans, does it?