Israel cuts off electricity to two Palestinian cities in 'collective punishment' over unpaid debts

Mayor of Nablus describes blackouts as 'collective punishment'

The Israel Electric Corporation cut the power supply to the Palestinian cities of Nablus and Jenin (Getty)

Israel’s state-owned electricity company briefly cut power to two Palestinian cities today to press for payment of what it said was £305m owed by the Palestinian government.

“The Israel Electric Corporation limited for 45 minutes the supply of electricity to five power lines in Nablus and Jenin,” the company said, adding that further cuts were possible. The mayor of Nablus, Ghassan al-Shakaa, described the blackouts as “collective punishment” and “politically motivated”.

Israel Electric said it had “long warned” about the debt.

Palestinians in the West Bank, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War, are largely dependent on electricity supplied by Israel Electric Corp.

A Palestinian power company in occupied East Jerusalem also buys electricity from IEC and sells it to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim peace deals with Israel.

Shaka'a told Reuters that Israeli power cuts would do more damage to a Palestinian economy already hit by Israel's withholding of the monthly transfer of more than $100 million in tax revenues that it collects on behalf of the PA.

Israel suspended the transfers last month after the Palestinians applied to join the International Criminal Court, where war crimes prosecutions could be pursued. The United States has expressed concern about the PA's viability if the funds remain frozen.

In previous instances in which Israel has withheld Palestinian tax revenues, some Israeli officials have proposed that some of the money be used to pay off some of the PA's electric bill.

Reuters