Gaza power plant may shut down as Israel closes border

Gaza's only power station is at risk of imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel, its manager has warned as Israel's complete closure on the territory reached a third day.

"If industrial diesel needed for the plant to generate electricity does not enter today or tomorrow, the plant will stop generating electricity because there's not enough (fuel) to run it," said Rafiq Maliha, the station's general manager said on Thursday.

Israel shut the goods and people crossings along its frontier with Gaza on Tuesday, citing fears of reprisals following the arrest of two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in the occupied West Bank.

The closure has halted deliveries through Israel of diesel, which is needed to fuel Gaza's sole power plant. 

Gaza's 2.3 million residents experience regular power shortages and last week received only an average of 10 hours of electricity per day, according to data from the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA.

Diesel for the power plant is usually trucked in from Egypt or Israel. 

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Restriction of movement

As well as shuttering the key supply line with Israel, this week's measures have also prevented Gazans from leaving the territory.

The World Health Organization said the closure was affecting 50 patients per day who had been due to leave Gaza for treatment.

Thousands of Gazans with permits to work in Israel have also been unable to travel across the checkpoint.

The Israeli defence ministry unit responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the impact of the Gaza closure.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is due to hold further talks on Thursday regarding the closures, which were imposed following a raid by Israeli forces in the northern occupied West Bank district of Jenin.

Israeli forces detained Bassem al Saadi and a fellow senior member of Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in Gaza.

A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces during the raid.

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