Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels – Middle East Monitor

Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels, Yasser Mazhar salvages and repairs them to restore power amid Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels, Yasser Mazhar salvages and repairs them to restore power amid Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels, Yasser Mazhar salvages and repairs them to restore power amid Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Mobile phones are being charged using solar power due to the lack of electricity caused by Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels, Yasser Mazhar salvages and repairs them to restore power amid Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Piecing together Gaza’s shattered solar panels, Yasser Mazhar salvages and repairs them to restore power amid Israel’s siege, in Gaza, on 5 July 2024 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

It is rare to find a solar panel in Gaza that is not damaged as a result of the relentless Israeli bombing campaign.

Israel cut electricity supplies to Gaza in the early stages of the war, in its effort to tighten its grip on Palestinian there and make the humanitarian situation worse than ever before. This has meant solar panels are more vital than ever and provide the only means through which Palestinians can charge their phones and keep connected to the world.

“The cost of a new solar panel ranges from 5,000 shekels to 8,000 [$1,345-$2,150] currently, due to the increased demand for it, and a large number of them were destroyed in the bombing of homes and shops. I created a mobile charging tent and a refrigerator for drinking water to provide the displaced with electricity, and I used broken solar panels,” Yasser Mazhar tells MEMO.

“Like all residents who use the solar system, I only found broken solar panels that provide electricity at less than their usual capacity. Some of them were exposed to bullets, some were subjected to direct bombardment, and others were removed from the rubble. However, the energy produced by these panels is better than nothing,” he adds.

During its repeated attacks on Gaza, Israel used quadcopters to fire at solar panels in an effort to further limit people’s access to electricity.

Israel has used the blackouts in Gaza to intensify its bombing campaigns each evening. Rights groups have warned that attacks against civilian infrastructure may constitute a war crime.

Watch: Israeli settlers damage Palestinian water pump in West Bank

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