Israel has ordered an immediate halt to Gaza’s electricity supply in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages, even as it prepared for fresh talks on the future of its truce with the Palestinian militant group.
Israel’s decision comes a week after , a move reminiscent of the initial days of the war when Israel announced a “siege” on Gaza.
Hamas described the electricity cut as “blackmail,” a term it had also used after Israel blocked the aid.
ended on 1 March and both sides have refrained from returning to all-out war, despite sporadic violence including an air strike on Sunday that Israel said targeted militants.
Hamas has repeatedly called for an immediate start to negotiations on the ceasefire’s second phase, aiming to end the war permanently.
Israel says it prefers extending phase one until mid-April, and halted aid to Gaza over the impasse.
On Sunday, it ordered a cut in the electricity supply.
“I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip,” energy minister Eli Cohen said in a video statement.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after” the war, he said.
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, described Israel’s move as “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics”.
Just days after Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel cut electricity to Gaza, only restoring it in mid-2024.
The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies the main desalination plant, and Gazans mainly rely now on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.
After Israel cut off the aid flow, UN rights experts accused the government of “weaponising starvation”.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza live in tents, with night-time temperatures now forecast around 12C.
Talks for easefire’s second phase
Hamas representatives met Egyptian mediators over the weekend, emphasising the urgent need to resume aid deliveries “without restrictions or conditions”, a Hamas statement said.
“We call on mediators in Egypt and Qatar, as well as the guarantors in the US administration, to ensure that the (Israeli) occupation complies with the agreement… and proceeds with the second phase according to the agreed-upon terms,” spokesman Hazem Qassem told Agence France-Presse.
Hamas’ key demands for the second phase include a hostage-prisoner exchange, Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, border crossings reopening and lifting the blockade, he said.
Former United States president Joe Biden had also outlined a second phase involving the release of remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza, and establishment of a permanent ceasefire.
After meeting mediators, another Hamas spokesman, Abdel Latif al-Qanoua, said indicators were so far “positive”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it would send delegates to Doha on Monday.
The truce largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, where virtually the entire population was displaced by Israel’s relentless military campaign in response to the October 7 attack.
The six-week first phase led to the exchange of 25 living Israeli hostages and eight bodies for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
It also allowed in much-needed food, shelter and medical assistance.
