UPDATE 1-Fuel shortage forces Gaza blackout - power station
(Previous JERUSALEM, adds blackout, details)
GAZA, Nov 10 (Reuters) - A fuel shortage forced the Gaza Strip's main power station to shut down on Monday, leaving about half the residents of the Hamas-controlled territory without electricity, a power plant official said.
Israel had blocked deliveries of EU-funded fuel to the enclave for a week in response to a surge in cross-border rocket attacks into southern Israel.
About 800,000 of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million residents lost power when the plant was shut down, the official said.
Israel told the European Union it will allow resumption of fuel shipments to the sole power plant on Tuesday, the EU said.
Palestinian officials had said the resumption would not come soon enough to prevent the plant running out of fuel, causing widespread blackouts.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday Israel would consider resuming the supply of fuel to Gaza.
"They (the Israeli army) informed us that fuel deliveries will resume tomorrow," said Alix de Mauny, a spokeswoman for the European Commission office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The EU's last shipment was made on Nov 4. Continued...
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