Millions in Gaza are now living in a complete power blackout after the coastal enclave's only operational power plant shut down on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.
Many factors have led to the worsening of a crisis that has been >ongoing for a few months; these include a severe fuel shortage and> political disputes.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, said:
“Of all the issues we deal with - the peace process, Palestinian institution building, the region - this is the one issue that keeps me up at night."
Tweeps launch the #SaveGaza hashtag
In the past few hours, Tweeps in Gaza and across the Arab world launched the hashtag: #انقذوا_غزه (Save Gaza) to bring attention to the current situation.
Soon after it was launched, it trended all over the Arab world
"#SaveGaza is topping trends on Twitter in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Qatar, Oman, Jordan, and Kuwait."
Many are outraged at the situation
People in the coastal enclave tweeted out devastating calls for help
"Children's lives are under threat due to the continued blockade on Gaza. #SaveGaza."
A complete shut down
"Gaza is in a state of slow death"
"Wake up and look at what they want to silence and hide"
Israelis are turning off their AC's in solidarity
As people around the world sent messages of solidarity with those suffering in Gaza, a few Israelis joined in.
In a video shared by Haaretz, Yuval Ben-Ami, an organizer of an Israeli solidarity campaign said:
"The current situation is a result of actions by Hamas, by the Fateh, and by Israel, but I pay taxes to only one of these organizations and so I feel responsible and I need to communicate to people that we hold responsibility."
As part of the campaign organized by Ben-Ami, a few people in Israel are turning off their air conditioners for an hour a day, to protest the current situation.
Late on Thursday, the Energy Authority in Gaza released a statement saying that the coastal enclave's sole power plant will resume production after Egypt facilitated the delivery of new fuel shipments, Gaza-based al-Mashreq News reported.
According to the statement, the situation is set to "gradually improve" over the next few days.