Lord Kilclooney – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kilclooney on 2016-01-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any restrictions on the supply of gas or electricity to Gaza, and if so, what representations have been made to the government of Israel by them or the EU on behalf of its member states.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Less than 50 percent of Gaza’s basic electricity needs are currently being met. This is a result of the limited capacity of the existing power lines from Israel (providing approximately 120 Mega Watts (MW) at present) and Egypt (approximately 32 MW), and of the Gaza power plant (60 MW). The plant is not run at full capacity because of damage sustained in past conflicts and restrictions on the amount of diesel allowed into Gaza. Officials at our embassy in Tel Aviv regularly urge the Israeli authorities to ease restrictions on Gaza and to facilitate improvements in electricity infrastructure. On 10 September, during Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu’s visit to the UK, the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), emphasised the need for Israel to do more to improve conditions in Gaza. They discussed electricity, as well as water and exports.