By Ola Atallah

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Gaza’s only power plant went offline Saturday because the Strip’s Energy and Natural Resources Authority has been unable to pay a fuel tax imposed on it by the Palestinian unity government.

“The power plant stopped operating because the Palestinian unity government continues to impose a tax on the price of fuel,” the Hamas-run authority said in a statement.

Hamas has been demanding a fuel tax exemption for years, citing the deteriorating situation in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative polls in 2006, Israel has imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip, creating a difficult economic and humanitarian situation for many of the territory’s roughly 1.9 million inhabitants.