According to Israel, the only facility in Gaza that was still receiving energy from the Israel Electric Corporation has had its supply shut off.
In an announcement on Saturday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said, “I just signed an order for the immediate halt of electricity to the Gaza Strip.” He also said that Israel will “operate all of the tools that are at our disposal, to ensure the return of all the hostages.”
Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Gaza that resulted in over 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages, Israel cut off energy supplies to the region. However, in response to a government decision, the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has recently restored power to a wastewater treatment facility.
“Today, a directive was received to disconnect the (electricity) to the facility, and this was done,” an IEC spokeswoman.
Given the past cutoffs, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem claimed the measure would not have much of a practical impact. The occupation’s intention to continue its murderous attack against Gaza through the use of starvation measures, in flagrant defiance for all international rules and standards, was what he condemned as “behavior that confirms that intent.”
Gazans have mostly relied on solar energy and generators for electricity since Israel began its war on Hamas in Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks.
The far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, an Israeli legislator, applauded the energy ministry’s most recent action and urged the government to take further action by focusing on the fuel that had entered the enclave after Israel and Hamas reached an agreement on a truce and captives.
“As long as there is even one Israeli hostage being held in the Gaza Strip, the entire region needs to be blacked out right away,” he declared. “Israel must bomb the generators run by Hamas and the massive fuel depots that entered the Strip as part of the regrettable deal.”
The announcement coincides with negotiations between Israel and Hamas over the precarious truce and hostage agreement.
In an effort to drive Hamas into agreeing to additional conditions for an extension of the ceasefire deal after the first phase of the truce ended, Israel said last week that it would halt the entry of all humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Without committing to a permanent halt to the conflict, Israel seeks to prolong the first phase of the agreement in order to continue exchanging hostages, both living and dead, in exchange for the ongoing release of Palestinian inmates and more aid into Gaza. Negotiations for a lasting halt to the war in Gaza are the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which Hamas has insisted on proceeding with.
While Israel announced on Saturday that it had “accepted an invitation” from US-backed mediators to send an Israeli delegation to Doha on Monday, “in an effort to advance the negotiations,” a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss the ceasefire agreement and to advocate for a possible second phase of the agreement.
Before resuming combat in Gaza, Israel was “giving negotiations a chance,” an Israeli source told CNN.
After holding direct discussions with Hamas this week, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for captives, Adam Boehler, expressed confidence on Sunday about a possible peace between Israel and the Palestinian group.
“I believe that within a few weeks, something might be put together. I will state that I think there is sufficient material to reach an agreement between what Israel wants and what Hamas has agreed. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Boehler told Jake Tapper, “I believe there is an agreement where they can free all the prisoners, not just the Americans.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office estimates that there are still 49 captives in Gaza, with almost half of them believed to be dead. Only one of the 59, Edan Alexander, is still alive, and five of them are American Israelis.
Al Aqsa TV, a channel connected to Hamas, reported on Sunday that senior Hamas official Taher Al Nunu stated that the terrorist organization does not object to Alexander’s release as part of peace talks.
Al Nunu claimed that during recent discussions centered on putting into effect an interim deal meant to stop the war, Hamas had conveyed that message to US authorities.
This tale is still in progress and will be updated.
