Israel announces halt to its supply of power to Gaza, in bid to pressure Hamas
Energy minister vows to use ‘all the tools available’ to free hostages, oust terror group, though Israel has only been supplying power for one desalination plant
Energy Minister Eli Cohen on Sunday instructed the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately cut off the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip, in an apparent bid to pile pressure on the enclave, where 24 hostages presumed to be alive, and the bodies of 35 more, are still held.
“We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after,’” said Cohen in a short video statement.
Cohen’s office circulated a letter sent to the IEC ordering it to stop selling electricity to Gaza power stations.
However, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Cohen’s decision is less dramatic that he made it appear. Electricity from Israel to Gaza was cut off after October 7, but in November Israel announced it was renewing supply to a desalination plant near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Israel cut the power to that plant, said the official.
The plant serves more than 600,000 Gaza residents through tankers or the networks of Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis governorates in central and southern Gaza, respectively. It is one of three such seawater processing facilities in the Gaza Strip, which before the war met around 15 percent of the 2 million-plus residents’ need for water.
The move came after Israel announced on March 2 that it was halting the entry of goods into Gaza, over what it said was the Hamas terror group’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, and threatened “additional consequences” and a return to war.
The stop to aid drew criticism from Western governments, as well as condemnation from Arab countries that accused Israel of using “starvation” as a weapon. The US backed the move.
Israel has said there is enough aid already accumulated in Gaza to meet the needs of its population, and that Hamas uses the supply of goods to bolster its control of the enclave and fund its attacks on Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he was prepared to raise the pressure and would not rule out cutting off all electricity to Gaza if Hamas didn’t budge on its demands in talks to free the hostages and end the war.
The first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal that went into effect on January 19 saw an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, after more than a year of fighting sparked by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Talks regarding the terms of a second phase were supposed to have begun on February 3, but Israel has effectively refused to engage in them, as phase two would require Israel to withdraw fully from Gaza and agree to a permanent end to the war in exchange for the remaining living hostages.
Talks, including unprecedented direct discussions between the US and Hamas, have continued on alternative frameworks that would see a temporary extension of the ceasefire in exchange for a limited hostage release. Israel will send a delegation to Doha on Monday for the talks, Netanyahu said Sunday.
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Israel has plans for an escalatory campaign against Hamas if Netanyahu eventually decides that hostage talks are fruitless or that the terror group’s demands are too high. The report pointed at Israel possibly cutting off electricity and water as a next stage.
