Egypt to supply more energy to Gaza

Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hassan Youness, has announced an increase in electricity supplies from Egypt to Gaza strip that will see the transferred amount of power rising from 17 MW to 22MW starting from next week. The news came after a meeting on Monday between the Minister and Nabil Al-Araby, the Arab League General Secretary. Youness added that a Palestinian technical delegation will visit Egypt to discuss the best ways to raise the average amount of electric power reaching the strip, in order to alleviate the suffering of the population in Gaza. At a later stage, the Egyptian-Palestinian joint committee will discuss the third stage of the electric connection project between the two sides, which is expected to cover the needs of the strip, and will be funded by the Islamic Bank. About an alleged complaint from the Palestinian side concerning the prices, the Minister said: "We have a specific price-system for all Arab countries, which applies to Gaza as well, which takes in consideration the daily oil price. However, we are open to discuss any complaints that might be coming from the Palestinian side".