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Gaza’s power crisis cripples farmers

The repercussions of the power crisis hitting the Gaza Strip, receiving less than four hours of daily supply, are now reflected in the agricultural sector and threatening food security in Gaza.

Palestinian farmers pick tomatoes to be exported into Israel, on a farm in Deir El-Balah in the central Gaza Strip March 11, 2015. Israel imported its first fruit and vegetables from the Gaza Strip in almost eight years on Thursday, in a partial easing of an economic blockade maintained since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory. Twenty-seven tonnes of tomatoes and five tonnes of eggplants were trucked across the border under an Israeli plan to bring in around 1,200 tonnes of
Palestinian farmers pick tomatoes to be exported into Israel on a farm in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, March 11, 2015. — REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip intensified after Israel approved June 13 the Palestinian Authority’s request to gradually reduce the power supply to the enclave.

As of June 19, the daily power supply dropped to less than four hours a day of electricity. The power crisis has taken its toll on all aspects of economic life in the Gaza Strip, including the agricultural sector, as farmers rely on electricity-powered wells for the irrigation of their crops.

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