Gaza's last power plant has gone offline, here's what you should know

The only power plant that remained operational in Gaza went offline Wednesday, due to a severe fuel shortage. 

Local officials said the coastal Palestinian enclave, where more than 2 million people reside, is now in complete blackout, according to Al Jazeera. 

"During the last war, we had more electricity than today,"  Abu Mohammed, a Gaza resident, told The Washington Post.

Here's a closer look at the causes and reasons behind the ongoing crisis, which began in mid-April. 

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but has limited control of Gaza due to Hamas, has stopped making electricity payments for the besieged coastal area.

The decision came due to an ongoing tax dispute between Abbas and Hamas. Israel provides the electricity to the region, but it is paid for by the Palestinian Authority.  

In an effort to assert control of Gaza, Abbas stopped paying for the electricity. His government also cut salaries for government employees in the seaside region and withheld permissions for medical patients to leave. 

Recent polls show that Abbas has been losing support in Gaza. According to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas enjoys 55 percent support in Gaza, whereas Abbas only has 39 percent.  

This is the largest gap recorded between the two rival leaders. 

"Abbas misread the situation. Maybe you can say that Hamas has not won, but Abbas has definitely lost," Taher el-Nounou, an adviser to Haniyeh, said. 

With pressure from the Palestinian Authority mounting, Hamas vows it won't surrender power. 

But the group is facing much greater isolation than ever before. Qatar has been one of Gaza's principle supporters for many years. As the emirate continues to face blockade by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain – partially for its support of Hamas – Qatar isn't the ally it once was. 

Meanwhile, Egypt continues to crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, a group linked directly to Hamas, and Turkey has reestablished ties with Israel. 

With Israel attempting to cozy up to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who both consider Hamas a terrorist group, the group faces opposition from all sides with few supporters. 

"Across the board we're watching de-development in slow motion," Robert Piper, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told Reuters this week. 

"Every indicator, from energy to water to healthcare to employment to poverty to food insecurity, every indicator is declining. Gazans have been going through this slow motion de-development now for a decade," he said.

Hamas seized control of Gaza a decade ago, raising tensions with the Israelis. As the Palestinian Authority and other Arab countries intensify their stance against Hamas, the people of Gaza will continue to suffer.

"I see this extraordinarily inhuman and unjust process of strangling gradually two million civilians in Gaza that really pose a threat to nobody," Piper said.