Expert: Hamas Facing ‘Perilous Time’ with Gaza Electricity Crisis

Followers of Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas hold pictures of Yahya Ayash during a rall
MANOOCHER DEGHATI/AFP/Getty

The Algemeiner reports: As it simultaneously confronts a domestic crisis in Gaza and an international one over Qatar, Hamas is living in “a perilous time,” a leading expert on the Palestinian Islamist terrorist organization told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.

With the Gaza Strip now facing critical electricity shortages of as little as 45 minutes a day, Hamas upped its militant rhetoric on Tuesday, following Israel’s decision to accede to a request from Mahmoud Abbas — the president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) — to slash the amount of electricity which the Jewish state supplies to the coastal enclave. The PA informed Israel in April that it was no longer prepared to foot the electricity bill for Gaza, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 when it violently ousted Fatah from power there.

“The decision of the occupation to reduce the electricity to Gaza at the request of PA President Mahmoud Abbas is catastrophic and dangerous,” Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanua said. “It will accelerate the deterioration and explode the situation in the Strip. Those who will bear the consequences of this decision are the Israeli enemy, who is besieging the Gaza Strip, and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.”

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