Egypt agrees to take over as Gaza power supplier

[Behind the Aegis]

Israeli and Egyptian representatives agreed in principle Wednesday to a
deal that would have Egypt replace Israel as the Gaza Strip's sole electricity provider.

Under the deal, Egypt would set up a new power line from the Sinai Peninsula town of Arish to the nearby Gaza Strip. The 150-megawatt line would cost $35 million to set up, and would be operational within two years.

Egypt currently provides the Gaza Strip with only 7 megawatts of power, while Israel provides 124 megawatts via 10 different lines. A local power station produces the remainder.

Security sources say the agreement will effectively free Israel from supplying Gaza with electricity, even though it does not specifically say so. Israel decided to reduce power supplies to Gaza in February to protest Qassam rocket fire on Israel by Palestinian militants.

Palestinian Energy Committee chair Omar Katana, who is in charge of the project on the Palestinian side, is not affiliated with Hamas.

more...

[msongs]

1. exactly WHY does egypt keep its fellow muslims out of egypt w/a huge wall/fence? hmmm nt

[lapfog_1]

2. Why does the United States keep its fellow Christians

out of the US by erecting an even bigger wall between the US and Mexico?

[DCKit]

4. They're Catholics, not Xians.

:sarcasm:

[lapfog_1]

5. I was being general

The poster said Muslims... so I answered Christians... as opposed to Sunni or something.

Anyway, the question still stands.

[DCKit]

6. I was only being half sarcastic.

The fundamentalists absolutely HATE Catholics - a hatred that knows no bounds if you're not "one of us".

I grew up Episcopalian, so I don't know how different their interpretation of the same Bible could be (and don't care to find out), but given that Catholics are the "original" Christians, I think it's pretty damn sad. From what I've seen, it's comparable to the blind, ignorant hatred of racism and "Teh Gays".

Then again, I've never met a Xian (family members too) who gave anything more than lip-service to Jesus' teachings, so I'm not surprised either.

[MaryCeleste]

3. Egypt has alway tread Gazans poorly, regardless of religion

[LeftishBrit]

7. Good!

About time Egypt took some responsibility there! Glad they're doing so.

[Behind the Aegis]

8. I agree.

This is a very good turn of events.