Residents of Neighborhood 1 in the Tel Sheva Regional Council have been without electricity since early Tuesday after masked gunmen shot a transformer and damaged the local power grid.
Israel Electric Corporation crews arrived Tuesday evening to replace the damaged transformer, but the work required traffic changes and the closure of a traffic circle to ensure the crews could operate safely.
(Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea)
Because no police escort was provided, the repairs could not be carried out.
When company crews returned Wednesday morning, they encountered masked men armed with rifles at the entrance to the neighborhood.
The Israel Electric Corporation said the armed men approached the workers and posed an immediate threat to their safety.
“Because of the danger to the employees’ lives, the crews were forced to leave the area without completing the repairs,” the company said.
The company filed a police complaint and said it viewed any threat or violence against its workers with utmost seriousness.
There is currently no estimate for when the fault will be repaired and electricity restored.
One resident told ynet that he had seen the workers at the site and spoken with them.
“They told me they would finish the work by 5 p.m., and suddenly they disappeared,” he said.
“There are police cars at the entrance to the community, between Omer and Tel Sheva, but nobody came. Where is the governance? They talk about governance, but where is it?”
The resident said sick people, elderly residents and children were among those left without power during the August heat.
“We have no electricity,” he said. “The Electric Corporation talks to the police, the police talk to the Electric Corporation, and we are the ones left without power.”