Israel ordered all electricity supply in Gaza on Sunday to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen’s announcement comes a week after Israel cuts off all aid supplies from the territory, with a population of more than 2 million.
“We will take hostages with all available tools and make sure Hamas is no longer in Gaza,” Cohen said in a video statement on Sunday. [the war]. ”
The decision to cut electricity is expected to affect the operation of desalinated plants primarily, which is essential for providing clean drinking water.
The government said that the cut off water supply has not been ruled out.
“I just signed an order to stop supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip,” Cohen said in a statement.
Israel cut off most of Gaza’s power supply in the early days of the war.
Talk extended A fragile ceasefireits first phase ended on March 1 and is expected to resume in Qatar on Monday.
Israel hopes Hamas accepts an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire.
However, Hamas wants to start negotiations in the second phase of the ceasefire, which will allow the release of the remaining hostages from Gaza, the evacuation of Israeli forces and the permanent end of the war.
Hamas is believed to possess 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
Militant groups – warned that cutting off supplies from Gaza would also affect hostages – said Sunday that it had ended the latest round of ceasefire negotiations with Egyptian mediators without changing its position and called for an immediate start of the second phase of the ceasefire.
Gaza’s coastal territory and its infrastructure were largely destroyed by war, with generators and solar panels used for certain power supplies.
Israel faces criticism for cutting off supplies from Gaza.
“Any denial of entry of essentials for civilians’ lives could be a collective punishment,” the UN Human Rights Office said Friday.
Hamas reiterated his support for the proposal to establish an independent technocratic committee to run Gaza until the Palestinians hold presidential and legislative elections.
The Commission will work under the protection of the Palestinian Authority (PA), located in the occupied West Bank.
Israel rejected PAs that played any role in Gaza, but did not propose alternatives to post-war rule.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people inside Israel during its October 2023 attack, most of which were civilians, and saw 251 people being taken hostage. Most have been published in a ceasefire agreement or other arrangements.
According to Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israel’s military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom were women and children.
