Gaza City has been plunged into darkness after its only power plant was shut down on the third day of a crippling Israeli fuel blockade of the Palestinian territory.

 

But the blackout did not stop Israel from continuing its military offensive, launching air raids in northern Gaza that killed at least two Palestinians late on Sunday.

Sunday's power plant shutdown has prompted fears of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

 

Palestinians said the worst affected could be the health sector, with hospitals failing to provide services in the absence of electricity.

"At least 800,000 people are now in darkness," Derar Abu Sissi, general director of the plant, said.

"The catastrophe will affect hospitals, medical clinics, water wells, houses, factories - all aspects of life."

 

 

Following the blackout, Khaled Mashaal, Hamas's political chief, called on Arab leaders and rival Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, for help to restore power in Gaza City.

 

Your Views

How will Israel's incursion impact peace talks? Send us your views

"All Arab leaders, exercise real pressure to stop this Zionist crime ... take up your role and responsibility," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

 

"We are not asking you to wage a military war against Israel ... but just stand with us in pride and honour," he said from Syria where he lives in exile.

 

 

 

 

 

In video

Jacky Rowland reports on the impact of the Gaza blockade Nour Odeh reports on the pressure mounting on the Palestinian president

"The Hamas claim of humanitarian crisis in Gaza is also greatly exaggerated."

Arye Mekel, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said that the power plant shutdown was unnecessary. "They have an interest in exaggerating," he said.

 

Israel says the blockade imposed on Gaza is in response to rockets being fired from the territory.

 

Mekel said that supplies of petrol used in cars, as well as diesel, had been halted but not fuel oil and cooking gas.
   
Referring to Hamas, he said: "The ball is in their court. If they stop the rockets today, everything would go back to normal."

Power outages have become commonplace in the Gaza Strip in recent months after Israel declared the area a "hostile entity" and began restricting fuel supplies.

Ahead of the shutdown, residents bought up batteries and candles, as well as basic foods like rice, flour and cooking oil. Bakeries stopped operating because they did not have power or flour.

UNRWA, the UN organisation supporting Palestinian refugees, warned the shortages would drastically affect hospitals, sewage treatment plants and water facilities.

"The logic of this defies basic humanitarian standards," Christopher Gunness, UNRWA spokesman, said.

Patients at risk

Palestinians fear the power cut could be disastrous for the health sector [AFP]

Dr Medhat Abbas, head of the crisis management unit at the health ministry in Gaza, said that electricity from generators would only be available for a few more hours at the Al-Nasser children's hospital.

"These patients and these children are facing their destiny and they will die soon," he told Al Jazeera.

"They escaped from their poor houses were they have very cold weather ... The families brought them here to be saved in the incubator. Now the incubator and the nursery will be out of electricity.

"What sort of humanitarian law is this?"

He said the blackout would also deprive cancer and intensive care patients of their treatment as well as spoiling blood and vaccines that were being stored.

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland in Gaza said that it was not only power generation that would be affected.

"It also means no fuel for the generators that fuel the water pumps - a lot of the water in Gaza is deep beneath the surface, and it has to be pumped to the surface - so no fuel can also mean no water."

'Collective punishment'

The UN has said Israel should not collectively punish Gaza's population while responding to security threats.