Gaza Electrical Supply Resumes Thanks To EU

The European Union has today announced it is to resume financing Gaza’s sole power plant, after days of black outs in the troubled territory.

The European Union, which supplies fuel for the plant, suspended its investment last week amidst fears that radical Islamic group Hamas could end up profiting from the measure.

The Gaza region has been completely sealed off from Israel after Hamas took control, leading to what many have feared could be a humanitarian crisis.

After Islamic group Hamas seized control of the territory around two months ago, the EU has sought assurances that tax will not be charged on electricity derived from its own funding, for fear that it might be seen to condone or support the radical movement.

The European Union announced that supply to Gaza would resume on Wednesday, after days of black outs and power shortages in the region leading to the closure of businesses and schools for the duration, as power became a premium

However, the move is still only being billed as provisional, pending further audits and investigations of the way electricity revenues are distributed. Should auditors encounter any discrepancies in the way funds are being distributed, analysts have predicted with some certainty that the EU could withdraw altogether from the region.

With Hamas blacklisted by the EU as a terror group, and indication that money raised could support their movement would be sufficient for the EU to withdraw funding altogether on a more permanent basis, which would again leave residents suffering the brunt of days without power.

However, Hamas criticised the EU’s moves as amounting to nothing short of a ‘collective punishment’ for the innocent people of Gaza for political motive.

EU officials will shortly move in to examine the structure of electricity revenue generation in the impoverished, troubled region.

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