GAZA CITY
At least 26 Palestinians have burned to death since 2010 in connection with the Gaza Strip's chronic electricity crisis, according to a report released by a local NGO on Monday.
According to the report by the Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, of the 26 deaths, 21 had involved children.
The center warned that the electricity crisis could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in the embattled coastal strip, calling for a "serious investigation" of the problem.
Gaza, which has been blockaded by Israel since 2007, has continued to suffer a chronic electricity shortage.
Since 2012, a rotation system has been used to deliver electricity to homes in the Gaza Strip. Electricity is delivered to certain homes for eight hours at a time before being redirected to other homes for another eight hours.
During Israel's recent offensive on the Gaza Strip, which lasted for 51 days in July and August and left 2,160 Palestinians dead, the strip's sole power plant was damaged after its main fuel tank was struck by Israeli artillery.
Although the plant remains functional, it is prone to frequent breakdowns due to Gaza's chronic fuel shortage.
On Saturday, two Palestinian children burned to death in a fire caused by a short circuit triggered by the strip's halting flow of electricity.
In January of 2013, six members of a single family in Gaza City were killed in a fire caused by a candle that they had used during an electricity outage.
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