Most of Gaza is currently operating on six hours of electricity per day, the Strip’s power authority said in a statement Saturday.

The Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority will be able to continue supplying Gaza with that amount of power each day for another two months, “unless the company is targeted by Israeli attacks again,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Authority will begin working on a new power line running from an Israeli power company to the northern Gaza Strip to provide 35 additional megawatts of electricity.

The statement said that priority for electricity will always be given to hospitals, civil institutions, and sewage treatment plants in order to provide essential services to Gaza residents.

Gaza’s sole power plant came under Israeli shelling on July 29, and as a result of stopped functioning. The damage will take up to a year to fix, the Authority has said.

The damages done to generators, poles, high pressure cables, main power containers, and warehouses across Gaza will cost $35 million to repair, the Saturday statement said.

It said that the Strip is suffering from a 70 percent shortage of its total power needs.

Gaza often experiences power shortages due to the ongoing eight-year Israeli blockade on the Strip, which severely limits imports of goods, fuel, and construction materials.

As a part of any long-term halt to hostilities in Gaza, Palestinians have demanded an end to the blockade, which has crippled the economy and led to frequent humanitarian crises.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)