Published: 8 July 2022
Last updated: 9 May 2025
The project, initiated by the environmental peacebuilding organisation EcoPeace, is the first of its kind.
Palestinian investors would invest in new solar farms in Area C, the Israeli controlled area of the West Bank. The electricity will be sold to the Palestinian authority in Gaza, meeting a desperate need for increased electricity supply in the area.
Israel would facilitate the transfer of the electricity through the Israeli network and deliver it to Gaza. This process, known as “wheeling the electricity across”, would enable Palestinians in Gaza to benefit from production in the West Bank.
EcoPeace Israeli Director Gidon Bromberg said the electricity initiative offered opportunities to improve environmental problems in both Israel and Palestine and to increase the economic independence of the Palestinians.
“In principle, we have support from all sides,” he said. “This is a win-win for all sides, if it moves forward.”
Bromberg said Gaza desperately needed more electricity to power its sewerage plants. Three existing sewerage plants do not have enough electricity and a fourth plant needs to be built.
Water quality is an enormous problem in Gaza. A World Bank report found that only 4% of groundwater met drinking water quality standards. It said 97% of Gaza residents got their water from private wells and small-scale informal desalination plants.
When the sewerage plants fail, sewage drifts up the coast, affecting Israel as well as Gaza. In the past, a desalination plant in Ashkelon has been forced to close temporarily because of pollutants flowing up the coast from Gaza.
