Living in the dark: Gaza’s struggle for electricity | Israel-Palestine conflict News | Al Jazeera

## Summary
Listen Listen (9 mins) Save Click here to share on social media share2 Share facebook twitter whatsapp copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info Palestinians in Gaza rely on stations to charge their phones [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] By Maram Humaid Published On 29 Mar 2026 29 Mar 2026 Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – Every morning, Abdel Karim Salman begins his routine by heading out carrying his own phone and his wife’s phone, both completely drained of charge. Advertisement He walks between 150 and 200 metres every day to reach a charging point, paying between two and four shekels ($0.65 to $1.30) per charging session, twice a day. “That means about eight to 10 shekels ($2.55 to $3.20) per day just for charging phones,” Abdel Karim explains, equivalent to approximately 270 to 300 shekels ($86 to $95) per month, a large amount given the lack of income among displaced families in Gaza amid the territory’s war-driven economic crisis. “Many days and nights we sleep in darkness inside our tent. When we can’t charge the phones, they turn off, and we are unable to recharge them.” Abdel Karim Salman heads daily to the charging station to charge his phone and his wife’s phone, which they use as a source of light in their tent throughout the night [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Few options With municipality-supplied electricity absent for two years in Gaza, several temporary alternatives have emerged, such as solar-powered lamps, but they remain unaffordable for most residents, having increased tenfold to about 300 shekels ($95) during the war. Advertisement As an alternative income source after the war and the electricity blackout in Gaza, Jamal repurposed his solar system to provide basic phone charging services to residents, though this came with major challenges. “The demand for charging was extremely high, and my batteries were exhausted within the first months, as electricity became very scarce at home,” he adds.

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Palestinians in Gaza rely on stations to charge their phones [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
By
Maram Humaid
Published On 29 Mar 2026
29 Mar 2026
Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip –
Every morning, Abdel Karim Salman begins his routine by heading out carrying his own phone and his wife’s phone, both completely drained of charge. He walks to a nearby charging point to plug them in and recharge them again.
Throughout the night, Abdel Karim relies entirely on the torches from the phones to light the inside of the tent he lives in with his family in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah.
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Abdel Karim, 28, a former civil engineer at the Beit Lahiya municipality in northern Gaza, was displaced to Deir el-Balah a year and a half ago with his wife and two children, along with about  30 members of his extended family.
His family home was completely destroyed on October 9, 2023, in the first few days of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Abdel Karim and his family have been on a difficult journey of displacement since then, with little in the way of normality, and in particular, a regular source of electricity for a bulb in his tent.
So he looks for alternatives to light up the structure, namely the phones, despite the rapid battery drain caused by keeping the torch function on.
“I charge my phone and my wife’s phone, and we use them for lighting at night, especially since my children are under five years old and they get scared if they wake up in the dark,” he says.
Abdel Karim says that the suffering caused by
electricity shortages
in Gaza is one of the largest “silent” forms of suffering that receives little attention.
For Abdel Karim, the charging process itself has turned into a daily, exhausting burden.
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He walks between 150 and 200 metres every day to reach a charging point, paying between two and four shekels ($0.65 to $1.30) per charging session, twice a day.
“That means about eight to 10 shekels ($2.55 to $3.20) per day just for charging phones,” Abdel Karim explains, equivalent to approximately 270 to 300 shekels ($86 to $95) per month, a large amount given the lack of income among displaced families in Gaza amid the territory’s war-driven economic crisis.
“Many days and nights we sleep in darkness inside our tent. When we can’t charge the phones, they turn off, and we are unable to recharge them.”
Abdel Karim Salman heads daily to the charging station to charge his phone and his wife’s phone, which they use as a source of light in their tent throughout the night [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
Few options
With municipality-supplied electricity absent for two years in Gaza, several temporary alternatives have emerged, such as solar-powered lamps, but they remain unaffordable for most residents, having increased tenfold to about 300 shekels ($95) during the war.
As for solar energy systems, they are even more expensive, reaching $420 per panel, and with the additional cost of a battery – about $1,200 – and an inverter. All these items are also scarce due to severe Israeli restrictions on their entry into the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.
For Abdel Karim, who lost his job soon after the war began, those sums are out of his reach.
Among the alternative solutions introduced during the war are private generator-based electricity systems operating on diesel fuel.
However, those are also unaffordable for many, and their services have fluctuated due to irregular fuel supplies through the crossings.
And so, with most options simply too expensive, that leaves many in Gaza in the same boat as Abdel Karim.
The impact of the power cuts is not limited to lighting or charging, but extends to every detail of daily life, especially for families with children.
“There is no refrigerator, no washing machine … even baby milk cannot be stored for more than two or three hours,” Abdel Karim explains, as he remembers his previous life, when his home was filled with electrical appliances and reliable power.
“The phone charging socket used to be right beside my bed. I could plug it in whenever I wanted. Today, that has become a dream inside this tent,” Abdel Karim adds.
He also says his children have been psychologically affected, especially his eldest son, due to the lack of any means of electronic entertainment or distraction from his grim surroundings.
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“There is no TV or screen. He keeps asking for the phone all the time just to calm down, but that also needs charging. Everything is dependent on electricity.”
According to Abdel Karim, his suffering is not an exception. He believes al

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Abdel Karim and his family have been on a difficult journey of displacement since then, with little in the way of normality, and in particular, a regular source of electricity for a bulb in his tent.
- He believes almost all of the people in Gaza are living the same reality, noting that even families in nearby camps who tried to pool resources to buy energy systems have been unable to afford them. “We hope God brings relief … because we are truly left without any solutions, as if we were abandoned in the desert.” Abdel Karim Salman lives with his wife and two children in a tent [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Longstanding problem On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel, and Israel then began its war on Gaza.

### Implications
- The impact of the power cuts is not limited to lighting or charging, but extends to every detail of daily life, especially for families with children. “There is no refrigerator, no washing machine … even baby milk cannot be stored for more than two or three hours,” Abdel Karim explains, as he remembers his previous life, when his home was filled with electrical appliances and reliable power. “The phone charging socket used to be right beside my bed.
- I could plug it in whenever I wanted.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers gaza, charging, electricity topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1629.