GAZA, (PIC)
Since the beginning of the war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, the power outage is no longer a temporary crisis or a rationing schedule that can be adapted to, but has turned into a permanent reality titled “complete darkness”, as no electrical current reaches homes, and there are no lighting hours that can be built upon, which forced the residents to completely reshape their lives in the total absence of the basic energy source.
In this reality, talking about “a day without electricity” is no longer an exception, but rather the daily rule lived by more than two million people. Life is managed on the remains of worn-out battery charges, alternatives that have become extinct in all countries of the world.
A day that begins and ends in darkness
The PIC correspondent met Um Ahmed, who lives in the New Camp area north of Nuseirat camp in central Gaza Strip, who describes her day saying, “There has been no electricity at all since the beginning of the war, everything has changed, we wake up and sleep in the darkness.”
She confirmed that the electrical appliances in her home have turned into a group of unused scrap metal. “The refrigerator no longer works, so we started buying small quantities of food, washing is manual, and everything has returned to how it was in the past, but under much more difficult and harsher conditions,” she pointed out.
With a laugh full of heartbreak and oppression she elaborated saying, “Our grandmothers and the women older than us used to envy us for our easy life, and today we have returned to before they were born, everything has changed and it has become a life that has no mercy.”
The father Abu Mohammad pointed out, in his conversation with the PIC correspondent, to the impact of the complete power outage on the educational path of his children, saying, “My children are forced to study by sunlight only, so if the sun disappears due to weather conditions, especially in the winter season, their studies stop, because studying on battery-charged lighting or candles is a difficult process.”
As for the future doctor, the university student Sarah, who faces extreme difficulty in continuing her education, she told our correspondent, “Studying has become very difficult, there is no sufficient lighting and no possibility to charge devices or follow any educational materials.”
And the story of the young man Mahmoud, was more difficult and tragic, as he lost his source of income through freelance work via the internet and said, “I lost my job completely after I was cut off from my clients whom I have been working with for many years, as I became without electricity or stable internet, and the possibility of returning to work has become almost impossible.”
He confirmed that the absence of electricity throughout the period of the war on Gaza until now made him lose a network of relationships that he spent long years to establish to be a basic supporter for his work via the internet, and said, “Everything ended and it is difficult to return to the previous situation in this bad reality.”
The suffering is not only in the above, even the simplest matters have become a daily battle fought by citizens in the Gaza Strip, such as charging phones and semi-damaged batteries, where citizens are forced to search for limited charging points that work via generators or solar energy, and often for a high cost.
Darkness in Gaza, systematic policy
Human rights and UN reports indicate that the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip is not only linked to the destruction of infrastructure, but to a systematic policy based on preventing the entry of energy sources, including fuel and energy alternatives such as solar panels and batteries, in addition to targeting what is available of them.
Human rights institutions described this as a deliberate deprivation of energy, at a time when UN agencies called for allowing the entry of these alternatives urgently to avoid the collapse of basic services.
Earlier, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights confirmed that Israeli used cutting off electricity, and preventing the entry of fuel, as direct tools to systematically deprive the population of energy.
The human rights center explained that preventing the re-operation of the Gaza power plant and the entry of energy alternatives comes within an Israeli policy aimed at “undermining the requirements of life” in the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA called on Israel on more than one previous occasion to allow the entry of batteries and solar panels into the enclave to use them for heating and operating basic facilities. However, the calls fell on deaf ears, which confirms, according to observers, Israel’s intention to drown Gaza in darkness and prevent any attempts to change that reality with any alternative solutions.
In multiple statements, the Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip confirmed that the ceasefire agreement and the accompanying humanitarian protocol stipulated the entry of aid trucks including fuel, electric generators and their spare parts, in addition to solar energy panels and batteries to meet the basic needs of the population after the destruction of the energy infrastructure.
On the other hand, it pointed out that the reality of implementation differs from the agreed-upon texts, as Israel continues to prevent the entry of these vital materials completely or almost completely, which contributes to the continuation of the electricity crisis and depriving the population of alternative sources of energy.
It explained that what enters of aid is mostly limited to secondary food commodities, while electric generators, solar energy materials and batteries remained “prohibited” and did not enter the Strip as stipulated in the relief efforts.
The Media Office stressed that the continued restrictions on the entry of fuel and spare parts necessary to operate generators represents a deliberate violation, and exposes basic services to danger in light of the continuation of the siege and procrastination in implementing the humanitarian clauses of the agreement.
The continuous darkness in the Gaza Strip does not only reflect the power outage, but a deliberate strategy and a systematic Israeli policy aimed at depriving the population of the simplest requirements of life.
The continued prevention of the entry of fuel, generators and solar panels proves that the crisis is not random, but part of a systematic campaign to disrupt daily life and weaken the steadfastness of civilians.
Hence, every lit candle or charged battery becomes a symbol of steadfastness, while the true light remains a hostage to the Israeli decision that controls the crossings, and imposes darkness on more than two million people since the beginning of the war amid global silence and permanent American support.
