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JENIN (Ma’an) -- Three hundred Palestinians living in a village on the Israeli side of the separation wall have suffered a total blackout for ten days, after their sole remaining power source broke down.

Dhaher al-Malih, to the west of Jenin in the northern West Bank, has been separated from neighboring West Bank villages by Israel’s separation wall.

All residents must pass through an Israeli checkpoint to leave the village, and visitors require special permission from military authorities.

So while the generator powering the hamlet broke down ten days ago, the village council says it is unable to bring mechanics and equipment to repair it.

The village relies on generators despite the Palestinian Authority electricity network lying just 100 meters away on the other side of the wall, local councilor Hussein al-Abed told Ma'an on Tuesday.

Dhaher al-Malih was set to connect to the grid three years ago through a project funded by the US government aid agency, but Israeli authorities blocked its implementation, al-Abed said.

Since 1995, the village had been using an old generator to power the village, and received an upgraded generator just six months ago from the Palestinian Authority.

Villagers pay 3 shekels per kilowatt for electricity from the public generator, while a kilowatt from the electricity company costs only 0.6 shekel, he added.

Now the generator has broken down, the village is entirely without electricity, he said, urging Palestinian authorities to renew their push to connect the village to the PA power grid.
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