World Bulletin/News Desk

Israeli authorities will open Karam Abu Salem border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday to allow the transfer of fuel after the enclave's sole power plant stopped operations on Saturday after it ran out of fuel.

Raed Fattouh, a senior official in the West Bank-based Economy Ministry, told reporters that Israeli authorities on Saturday informed Ramallah of opening of the crossing on Sunday.

Fattouh, however, pointed out that Israel did not specify the amount of fuel to be transferred into the besieged enclave.

Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner confirmed Sunday morning on Twitter that the crossing will be opened on Sunday to allow the transfer of fuel into the besieged enclave.

On Saturday, Gaza's power plant stopped working on Saturday after consuming the last drop of fuel due to Israel's closure of the Karam Abu Salem crossing, the Gaza energy authority said.

Last Wednesday, the Israeli army declared a series of sanctions against the enclave following a fresh episode of tit-for-tat attacks which erupted last week.

The sanctions include the closure of all border crossings with Gaza as well as suspending the entry of commercial goods.

Karam Abu Salem is Gaza's only open commercial crossing as Egypt continues to close the Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian territory.

Gaza's power plant resumed operations in mid-December following seven weeks of closure due to shortages of the fuel needed to operate it.

The plant requires some 650,000 liters of diesel fuel for its daily operations.

The 65-megawatt power plant only supplies about one third of Gaza's total electricity needs.

Gaza receives 120 megawatts of electricity from Israel each day and buys a further 28 megawatts from Egypt, according to the Gaza Energy Authority.