Israel cut off electricity supply to Gaza — Minister

Israel has ordered the immediate cutoff of all electricity supply to the Gaza Strip in what it says is an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing remaining Israeli hostages.

Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, announced the move on Sunday, just a week after the government halted aid deliveries to the enclave, home to more than two million people.

“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],” Cohen said in a video statement.

The power cutoff is expected to further cripple essential services in the territory, especially desalination plants that provide clean drinking water. The government said it has not ruled out cutting off water supplies as well.

“I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip,” Cohen said.

Although Israel had earlier curtailed most of the mains electricity to Gaza at the height of the war, Sunday’s order marks a full suspension of supply.

The decision comes as talks are expected to resume in Qatar on Monday to extend a fragile ceasefire. The initial phase of the truce ended on 1 March.

While Israel wants an extension of that first phase, Hamas is pushing to begin negotiations on the second phase, which would involve the release of all remaining hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a permanent end to the conflict.

Hamas is believed to be holding 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others. The group, which has warned that further cuts to supplies could impact the hostages, said on Sunday that it had concluded the latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without shifting its stance. It renewed its demand to move to the ceasefire’s second phase immediately.

Gaza’s infrastructure remains heavily devastated by months of war, with residents relying on generators and solar panels for limited power. The power cutoff is likely to deepen the humanitarian crisis.

The United Nations human rights office has criticised Israel’s blockade. “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment,” it said on Friday.

Hamas has repeated its support for a proposal to establish an independent committee of technocrats to govern Gaza under the Palestinian Authority (PA) until new elections are held. However, Israel has rejected any PA involvement in post-war Gaza without presenting an alternative governance plan.

According to the BBC, Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to 251 hostages being taken. Most have since been released through ceasefire deals or other arrangements. Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 48,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which does not specify how many of the dead were militants.