Universal rule of thumb - when you treat your customers like crap, you lose their business. A new link connecting the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah to the Egyptian power grid opened as the Palestinians strive to end their dependence on Israel.

The 1.5 kilometre (mile-long) five megawatt power line connects the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of the divided town, the director of Egypt's Canal Company for Electricity Distribution, Ismail Hilal, said at the official launch.

Egypt and the Palestinian Authority agreed in June to build a new 50 kilometre (30 mile) 200 kilowatt power line linking the main north Sinai town of El Arish to Rafah.

They also agreed to build an eight-kilometre (five mile) 220 kilowatt line from Rafah to an electricity transformer in the Gaza Strip.

The capacity of the Egyptian power station in El Arish will also be boosted to provide sufficient power for Gaza's population of 1.3 million people.

The Gaza Strip had hitherto been entirely dependent on Israel for the fuel to keep its sole power station running.Israelis must be fuming over this.

Watch them come up with a pretext to bomb it.