Sole Gaza power station turned off due to fuel crisis

The Gaza Strip's only operating power plant was turned off late on Wednesday due to a severe shortage of fuel, leaving the coastal enclave in a complete blackout, local officials said. The besieged Palestinian territory, where more than two million people live, has been suffering from an energy crisis since mid-April due to a dispute over taxes between Hamas, which rules the enclave, and West Bank-based Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Gaza has been under a tight Israeli blockade for a decade and residents have been subjected to persistent blackouts.