Red Cross brings solar panels to Gaza clinics

The international Red Cross has installed solar panels at 32 health-care clinics in the Gaza Strip to ensure that vaccines remain refrigerated in the power-starved territory.

Workers installed a unit of six panels on Thursday at each of the clinics. The units will produce about 1,500 megawatts of power — enough to keep vaccine refrigerators on.

On a good day, the 1.8 million residents of Gaza, ruled by the militant Hamas group, get electricity for eight hours. Disagreements between Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority have left Gaza's only power plant functioning at reduced capacity.

Dr. Majdi Duhair, a Health Ministry official, says that even with the new panels, many services continue to suffer.