GAZA, (PIC)-- Kanan Obaid, the deputy head of the energy authority in Gaza, has said that the Gaza Strip is suffering a 25% shortage in electricity needs, adding that the shortage could only be overcome through increasing electricity supplies from Egypt.

He said in a press statement on Saturday that even if enough fuel to the sole Gaza electricity station was provided by Israel the problem would not be solved.

Egypt started to provide the southern Gaza Strip district of Rafah with 17 megawatt of electricity since early 2007 after Israeli warplanes knocked out the sole power station in Gaza by the end of June 2006.

Obaid attributed the recent power outages in Gaza to technical problems in the power station.