Tens of thousands of Gaza Strip residents were without electricity Monday after the European Union stopped paying to supply fuel to a Gaza power station serving more than a fourth of the coastal enclave.It was not clear whether the European aid, cut off to deny the radical Hamas movement money, would be resumed or how long power outages in central Gaza would go on. A din of private generators dominated Gaza City's main market areas as merchants and residents sought to keep their lights on.
The blackouts, which began Friday night and grew to affect more than 500,000 residents by Sunday, spelled fresh anxiety for Gazans who have felt increasingly cut off since Hamas forcibly took control of the impoverished strip in June by routing the rival Fatah movement.
Israel has closed its borders with Gaza to shipments of all but humanitarian goods and has joined the United States and Europe in refusing contact with Hamas.
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