Gaza families still without electricity despite ceasefire

When they cannot afford to charge the flashlight, they go without food.

"We stay in the darkness - once the sun sets and the Maghrib prayer is called," al-Joujou said, referring to the Muslim sunset devotion. "If the light of the flashlight is available, we light it. If not, we go to sleep without dinner or light."

Her family has been without electricity since war broke out more than two years ago, relying on candles when first displaced to the city of Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

Eventually they gave up even that, fearing a fire hazard in their tent. "We tried a simple LED light, but it broke. We do not have the money to fix it. We tried to get a battery, but it's expensive and unavailable," al-Joujou said.

Before the war, Gaza mainly depended on imported electricity from Israel though supplies were shaky. It received 120 megawatts from Israel while the enclave's lone power plant supplied another 60 MW, according to Gaza officials.

Shortly after October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters triggered the war by attacking south Israel, killing 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, Israel put Gaza under "total siege".

Electricity went out in Gaza after its power station ran out of fuel within days.

In response to questions for this article, the Israeli military said civilian infrastructure, including electrify facilities, were not military targets “in and of themselves” and that it took measure to minimize harm to “civilians and civilian structures”, while also asserting that Hamas operated from within civilian areas.

Now in a displacement camp in central Gaza's Nuseirat neighbourhood, most family activities end when the sun goes down. Al-Joujou's children also use a flashlight for homework when possible to charge it.

"We barely have enough money to get by in our daily lives," added Hanan's husband Ahmed, 35.

Some residents run charging points, supplied by solar power or private generators given how the war has destroyed Gaza's electrical grid and cables.

Mohammed al-Hor's family have run one such charging business using solar power. They set it up at their own home which was hit by an Israeli strike. "The charging point was also bombed, and my brother was martyred inside," the 32-year-old said.

PUNISHMENT

In March of this year, Israeli minister Eli Cohen said he instructed the Electric Corporation to not sell electricity to Gaza as a punitive measure against Hamas.

But even after the ceasefire, restoring power to Gaza — which has been reduced to ruins by Israeli bombardment — would require a massive infrastructure rebuild.

The war has already destroyed more than 80% of the enclave's electricity distribution networks, with initial estimated losses to infrastructure and machinery amounting to US$728 million, the media director of Gaza's electricity company told Reuters.

"For the past two years, no electricity has reached the Gaza Strip. The amount of electricity reaching Gaza is zero," Mohammed Thabet told Reuters, saying pre-war needs were 600 megawatts.

COGAT, the arm of the Israeli military that oversees aid flows into the Gaza Strip, said Israel is fully committed to its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks, which include fuel supplies for electricity, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

COGAT added that the Kela power line from Israel was connected to support two desalination facilities.

In July 2024, Israel also connected a power line to a U.N.-managed desalination plant in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to provide additional drinking water to Palestinian residents.