Podcast Summary: Lawless Planet – "The Long Fight to Keep the Lights on in Gaza"

Host: Zach Goldbaum
Episode Date: October 6, 2025
Notable Contributors: Ghada Abdelfattah, Dr. Rafiq Maliha, Michael Barron, Ariel Ezrahi

Overview

In this powerful episode, Lawless Planet explores how electricity—and the struggle for control over it—has shaped not only daily survival but also the political future of Gaza. Host Zach Goldbaum, with on-the-ground reporting from Palestinian journalist Ghada Abdelfattah and insights from key figures like Dr. Rafiq Maliha and Ariel Ezrahi, traces the decades-long saga of Gaza’s quest for energy independence and the devastating consequences of its failure. Against the backdrop of war, blockade, and shifting geopolitics, the episode examines how power—both electric and political—has become a weapon and a symbol in the ongoing conflict, profoundly impacting lives, hopes, and the environment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Life Inside a Blackout Zone

• Opening Scenes from Al Aqsa Hospital

  • Ghada Abdelfattah describes the harrowing atmosphere inside a central Gaza hospital amid drone surveillance and overflowing emergency rooms.
  • Quote [02:42]: “I'm walking through the emergency corridor. The air is thick, not just with dust or disinfectant, but with something heavier. It is fatigue. It is grief. It is the smell of dried blood.” – Ghada Abdelfattah

• Electricity as a Lifeline

  • Following the October 2023 Hamas attack, Israel imposes an electricity cutoff and full blockade, crippling Gaza’s only power plant.
  • Hospitals, such as Al Aqsa, rely on overtaxed diesel generators, which frequently fail, even during surgeries.
  • Quote [04:15]: “When electricity cuts in the operating room, we raise our hands and stop.” – Dr. Mohammed Shaheen

Systemic Energy Dependence and Weaponization

• Energy as a Weapon and Political Lever

  • Zach probes the historical and strategic rationale behind Israel’s control of Gaza’s electricity, suggesting deliberate policy rather than mere necessity.
  • Quote [06:29]: “It’s worth asking… whether this system of dependence is really just an act of benevolence, or if it’s the deliberate result of a decades long strategy, one designed to keep energy firmly in Israel’s hands.” – Zach Goldbaum

• Survival Strategies Amid Crisis

  • Children scavenge for wood and plastic to burn for fuel, resulting in health and environmental hazards.
  • Wastewater flooding and halted desalination plants due to power loss have led to waterborne diseases and thirst.

Historical Roots of the Power Crisis

• The Dream of Energy Independence

  • Dr. Rafiq Maliha recounts building Gaza’s first power plant, aiming for autonomy but repeatedly thwarted by geopolitics, blockades, and direct attacks.
  • Quote [12:48]: “Electricity or power is life. The faster you can bring electricity to the people… the faster you can have water, you can have better hospitals, sewage. All the key life issues are linked to the supply of power and electricity.” – Dr. Rafiq Maliha

• Gas Finds – Hope Deferred

  • Discovery of the Gaza Marine gas field in 2000 sparks hopes for resource-driven prosperity, but legal disputes and Israeli caution (rooted in security concerns and a desire for strategic dominance) freeze progress.
  • Quote [23:00]: “Arafat made some very over exaggerated claims that he’d turn Gaza into the next Singapore. But it would also be a secure, stable source of fuel for the Palestinian economy.” – Michael Barron

• Destruction and Political Intrigue

  • The Gaza power plant is bombed by Israel (2006) and left dysfunctional by war, while subsequent infrastructure plans flounder due to distrust and the split between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

International Mediation and the "Gas for Gaza" Project

• Diplomacy, Business, and the Quartet

  • Efforts led by Tony Blair’s office (and advisor Ariel Ezrahi) to bring Israeli gas to Gaza through a pipeline. The project faces skepticism from both sides and internal Palestinian divisions.
  • Memorable Moment [31:25]: Ariel Ezrahi jokes with Israeli officials: “You can come as my mother-in-law, but just please show up in the room and let’s talk and get this thing sorted.”

• Persistent Obstacles

  • Negotiations are hampered by political rivalries, concerns about funding ending up with Hamas, as well as Israeli strategies to undermine the Palestinian Authority by tacitly bolstering Hamas.

• A Glimmer of Progress Pre-2023

  • Just before the October 2023 war, there is cautious hope: Israel grants preliminary approval to revive the Gaza Marine project, perhaps as a gesture towards regional diplomacy (notably with Saudi Arabia).

The 2023 Turning Point and Its Consequences

• October 7, 2023 – A Day That Changed Everything

  • The Hamas attack leads to escalation, the immediate cutoff of all fuel and electricity, and bombardment that targets both people and infrastructure.
  • Dr. Maliha’s house is destroyed in the bombing, and he later flees Gaza as a refugee.

• Total Darkness: Physical and Metaphorical

  • By mid-October, the last fuel tank at the power plant is dry; Gaza plunges into darkness.
  • Private generators run until fuel runs out; solar panels (once widespread) are gradually reduced to rubble.

• Environmental and Social Breakdown

  • Sewage flows untreated into the Mediterranean.
  • “Water, sewage, agriculture, healthcare—all are inextricably linked to electricity,” Goldbaum notes, underlining the multidimensional crisis.

• Personal Losses and Resilience

  • Ghada recounts her house—the fourth time it’s bombed—her family's loss of cherished olive groves, and the daily fight to rebuild amid starvation and despair.

  • Quote [47:07]: “All of our olive trees have been destroyed… We used to have an abundance of olive oil, and that’s why we relied on it in everything. Now all of this has gone.” – Ghada Abdelfattah

  • Despite everything, both Ghada and Dr. Maliha hold out hope for rebuilding, if the political circumstances ever become favorable.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Power as Political Leverage
  [06:29] – “It’s worth asking… whether this system of dependence is really just an act of benevolence, or if it’s the deliberate result of a decades long strategy, one designed to keep energy firmly in Israel’s hands.” – Zach Goldbaum

• Desperation in the Dark
  [04:15] – “When electricity cuts in the operating room, we raise our hands and stop.” – Dr. Mohammed Shaheen

• Hope for the Future
  [47:37] – “My father says once the war ends and everything is okay, we can do this again… So we can do it again and again.” – Ghada Abdelfattah

• The Challenge Ahead
  [48:28] – “You can at the end find a technical solution, but to find political solution, that is the main problem.” – Dr. Rafiq Maliha

Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:26–04:46 – Ghada Abdelfattah’s firsthand reporting inside Al Aqsa Hospital, Dr. Shaheen on lifesaving surgery during blackouts
• 06:29–10:55 – Zach Goldbaum and Ghada discuss energy deprivation as an evolving weapon of war
• 10:55–16:27 – Dr. Rafiq Maliha narrates the power plant’s history, ambitions, and attacks
• 20:35–28:28 – Gaza Marine gas field discovery, legal setbacks, and Israel’s own gas discoveries
• 29:42–37:02 – Ariel Ezrahi outlines the “Gas for Gaza” pipeline project and its political complexities
• 39:32–42:45 – October 7, 2023: The collapse of Gaza's power infrastructure, personal accounts of destruction
• 44:30–47:29 – Ghada shares stories of resilience, loss, and the struggle to maintain basic functions (solar panels, olive groves)
• 48:01–48:28 – Dr. Maliha and Zach reflect on the enduring challenge: political solutions beyond technical fixes

Conclusion

With intimate testimonies, historical analysis, and a clear-eyed look at the politics behind Gaza’s struggle, this episode of Lawless Planet demonstrates that the fight for energy is about more than flipping a switch. It is a fight for autonomy, survival, and justice—made all the more urgent by the ongoing destruction of lives, land, and futures in Gaza. The ultimate message: Technological recovery is possible, but nothing will change without a political way forward.