Israel OKs Turkish floating generator for Gaza: PA official

RAMALLAH - Anadolu Agency

Palestinians sit between the rubble of their destroyed building in Shijaiyah, neighborhood of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014. AP Photo

Israel has preliminarily granted permission for a Turkish generator ship to anchor off the coast of the Gaza Strip and provide the power-starved Palestinian enclave with electricity, a Palestinian Authority (PA) official has said.

“Israeli authorities have given preliminary approval to the Turkish power-generating ship to anchor at the nearest point off the coast of the Gaza Strip,” Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the PA’s civil affairs department, said Oct. 16.     
 
He said Israel had initially rejected the idea when it was first proposed. “But they’ve given preliminary approval in recent days,” he added.

Al-Sheikh said the PA and United Nations were pressuring Israel to give the project final approval.