Israeli, Qatari, Palestinian Agreement to Resolve Electricity Crisis in Gaza

A Palestinian family uses firewood for heating in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis on Friday, as a cold wave hits the Gaza Strip (EPA)
A Palestinian family uses firewood for heating in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis on Friday, as a cold wave hits the Gaza Strip (EPA)
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Israeli, Qatari, Palestinian Agreement to Resolve Electricity Crisis in Gaza

A Palestinian family uses firewood for heating in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis on Friday, as a cold wave hits the Gaza Strip (EPA)
A Palestinian family uses firewood for heating in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis on Friday, as a cold wave hits the Gaza Strip (EPA)

The agreement reached among Delek company, the Qatari government, and others to install a gas supply system in Gaza Strip proves that Israel acknowledges Hamas as a partner.

Qatar and the Palestinian Authority (PA) will jointly purchase the gas from the Leviathan gas field.

Qatar will further fund the pipeline from the Israeli side, while the European Union (EU) will handle the costs of installing the pipeline from the borderline with Israel to the power station in the Strip.

The Israeli cabinet has approved the deal.

In further detail, Qatar and the PA pay $20 million for operating the power station that provides 180 megawatts. However, when it comes to gas, they will pay $15 million, generating 400 megawatts.

The gas from Israel will resolve the electricity crisis, bringing light to the whole Stirp.

Israel will not pay a single dollar from its pocket; in fact, it will get revenues from the Delek company taxes.

Prior to Israel’s approval, the cabinet deliberated on the matter and held consultations with Qatar, Egypt, and the EU.

Gazans hope this deal will bring closure to the distressing situation of getting only four hours of electricity per day.

Muhammad Thabet, director of public relations for the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company, said the implementation of strategic projects is needed to solve the electricity crisis in Gaza.

According to Thabet, the simplest answer would be to install a gas supply system in Gaza instead of high-cost diesel.

The gas pipeline would reduce operating costs by 15 percent of the overall cost, he added.



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
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Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.