JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli shelling knocked out Gaza’s only electric power plant, Gazan officials said.
“Gaza’s sole power plant has stopped working due to Israeli shelling last night, which damaged the steam generator and later hit the fuel tanks which set them on fire,” Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil, Gaza’s deputy director of the energy authority, told the French news agency AFP.
The plant remained on fire Tuesday morning, an AFP reporter observed.
The plant supplies electricity to the heavily populated Gaza City and other areas of the coastal strip. The plant also was hit last week and was working at a reduced capacity, Reuters reported.
Gaza also receives electricity from Israel. Five out of 10 electricity lines from Israel to Gaza have also been damaged, however, according to AFP.
Israel reportedly also struck the Gaza home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh early on Tuesday morning, causing damage but no casualties. The house was empty at the time, Reuters reported.
Haniyeh’s son, Abed Salam Haniyeh, confirmed in a statement that Israel struck the house twice.
