A darkness covered Gaza City Sunday night after the Hamas-controlled coastal territory ran out of fuel for its power plant. The Gaza power station shut down with pomp and circumstance as Hamas political leaders invited reporters to the event. The Palestinian group charged with supplying parts of the Strip with electricity cut power after Israel reduced shipments of fuel to Gaza Sunday, a move Israel made in response to continued Kassam rocket attacks on the country's border with Gaza. "Tonight the power plant has stopped functioning. And that has plummeted the Gaza city which is 600,000 people into darkness," said John Ging, Head of UNRWA in Gaza. Aryeh Mekel, a spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said, "Israel is applying pressure on the terrorist organizations in Gaza in order to put an end to the daily barrage of rockets against Israeli citizens. We will continue to apply such pressure and use military tactics in order to convince the people that control Gaza that they have to put an end to this, that they have to stop attacking our citizens in southern Israel. We believe that no government would have act differently, any government has the ultimate to responsibility to protect its citizens." A United Nations agency criticised Israel for the situation. Israel responded, saying the agency should instead criticise Hamas's decision to continue launching Kassam rockets at Israel. The blackout affected only Gaza City, the area supplied by Gaza's power station. Israel supplies the central and southern part of the Strip with electricity, an area that consumes three-quarters of Gaza's power. 1/21/2008
