EU security fears plunge Palestinians into darkness

Large swathes of the Gaza Strip are without electricity after the European Union halted fuel payments citing security worries. The territory’s main power plant, Nusseirat, shut the last of its four generators yesterday, saying its reserves were depleted. Brussels says it is reviewing its aid programme that funds fuel. It wants to make sure Hamas, which the EU considers a terrorist organisation, has not taken over the plant.

The Islamist group seized control of Gaza in June after a deadly power struggle with President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction.

While ordinary Palestinians set up makeshift generators and light candles to try to get on with their daily lives as best they can, Fatah and Hamas are arguing over who is to blame for the situation. Hamas accuses Abbas of stoking the crisis for political gain. Fatah says it is Hamas’s fault for not paying money due to the Palestinian Authority.

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