Ramsco's Women Empowerment Initiative Recognized Among Top BRICS Businesswomen Practices for 2025    Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    Gold prices end July with modest gains    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Egypt's FM, US envoy discuss Gaza ceasefire, Iran nuclear talks    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Federal Reserve maintains interest rates    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Rafah Crossing 'never been closed for one day' from Egypt: PM    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's EDA explores pharma cooperation with Belarus    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



In Gaza, power cuts and rumors hamper reconciliation
Published in Daily News Egypt on 01 - 04 - 2012

GAZA CITY: A smart white villa with a red roof sits uninhabited but under close guard in Gaza City, awaiting the return of its owner, Fatah head and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Members of the Hamas government's security services surround the building, which fell into their hands when long-running tensions between rival factions Hamas and Fatah boiled over into full-blown conflict in the summer of 2007.
The Islamist group routed Abbas's Fatah movement, forcing it to cede control of the Gaza Strip, including the property.
"There's no one inside," says one Hamas guard with a close-cropped beard.
In January, Hamas announced it would return the building to Abbas, but with a reconciliation deal between Fatah and the Islamist group stalling, the chances of the leader returning to the territory to reclaim the property seem slim.
"It's ready for a visit, today if necessary," the guard says, with a smile.
Hamas and Fatah agreed last year to reconcile, signing a deal that called for the quick formation of a consensus government, which would pave the way for presidential and legislative elections by around May 2012.
But the process has hit repeated roadblocks, with the formation of the interim government proving particularly thorny.
Gaza's worsening electricity crisis, caused by a lack of fuel supplies that has plunged the territory into darkness in recent months, has soured the atmosphere further.
Charges of conspiracy are rife, and Hamas security forces have set up roadblocks and arrested dozens of Fatah members and individuals they accuse of "spreading rumors."
Fatah has protested the detention or summons to interrogation of "hundreds" of its members, including its spokesman in Gaza.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, based in the coastal enclave, said in a statement last week that it was "gravely concerned" by the summons issued to at least 80 Fatah members.
"They said that they were mainly questioned on allegations of their factional role against the government in Gaza in light of the power crisis," the centre said.
Hamas's interior ministry has acknowledged the arrest of more than one hundred people for "propagating rumors about the electricity and fuel shortage."
"There are people who say that official in Gaza are not suffering from this crisis, that's not true," Gaza's energy authority spokesman Ahmad Abu Al-Amrin said. "The electricity shortage in Gaza is political."
Gaza's only power plant shuddered to a halt on March 23, just 48 hours after Israel delivered 450,000 liters of fuel paid for by Abbas's Palestinian Authority government in the West Bank, with Hamas denouncing what it called a "conspiracy."
"US, Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Ramallah are working together to overthrow Hamas and tighten the blockade on Gaza," Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya announced.
The statement was the most provocative and explicit jab made since the signing of the reconciliation deal by the two sides on April 27, 2011 in Cairo.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, another smart villa lies quiet — the Gaza headquarters of the Central Election Commission.
Its local director Jamil Al-Khaldi is waiting for the green light from the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, to begin key work to prepare for elections, including updating voter registers.
"We have around 540,000 registered voters in the Gaza Strip, and we need to register close to 220,000 new ones" to update electoral lists that are nearly five years old.
The commission's president Hanna Nasser met with Haniya two months ago.
"Since then, Dr Nasser has sent him two letters seeking permission to open the centers to update the electoral lists," Khaldi said.
"Until now, we've received no response, neither positive nor negative."
On Hamas's television station, the electricity crisis is noted with a little light bulb icon that runs over all programs in the top left-hand corner of the screen.
It flickers slightly then goes out, its weak light faltering like the prospects for reconciliation as seen from Gaza.


Clic here to read the story from its source.