JERUSALEM: Israel will reverse a power cut to Gaza begun in June after the Palestinian Authority agreed to pay for its supply to the blockaded enclave, the energy ministry said Sunday.
It said Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz had ordered the supply to be restored by Monday.
A cut in PA payments to Israel to supply power on its behalf to the Gaza Strip in June reduced the amount being delivered to the coastal Palestinian territory by some 50 megawatts.
Many residents were left with around four hours of electricity per day as a result.
Restoring the 50 megawatts will return the enclave to the situation before June, when mains electricity was supplied to residents in eight-hour cycles.
Steinitz said the PA had last year cut the amount of its monthly payments from 40 million shekels (9.7 million euros, $11.6 million) to 25 million shekels.
The electricity payments have been a key issue in efforts at reconciliation between Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs Gaza, and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah.
The cut came as part of measures taken by Abbas to pressure Hamas after the Islamist movement created what was seen as a shadow government in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation accord in Cairo in October aiming to end their decade-long feud and hand authority in Gaza back to the PA.
However, reconciliation efforts later stalled and the rival factions missed a December deadline to transfer power in Gaza.
Security control in the territory remains a major issue, with Hamas refusing to disarm its 25,000-strong armed wing.
Israel says restoring Gaza power after PA pledge to pay
Israel says restoring Gaza power after PA pledge to pay
Syria says 120 Daesh detainees escaped prison; Kurdish website said 1,500 escaped
- The Syrian ministry said Syrian army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the breakout
CAIRO: Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Daesh detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500 Daesh members had escaped.
The Syrian ministry said Syrian army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the breakout. It said security forces had recaptured 81 of the escapees after search and sweep operations in the town and surrounding areas, with efforts continuing to arrest the remaining fugitives.
Earlier, the Syrian army said “a number of” Daesh militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them.
After days of fighting with government forces, the SDF agreed on Sunday to withdraw from both Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years and the location of Syria’s main oil fields.
