Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Smotrich urges cutting off Gaza water and electricity, annexing land for every hostage harmed
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich leads a Religious Zionism faction meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, February 10, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls for giving Hamas an ultimatum after the terror group says it will postpone the upcoming release of hostages.
“We have to give Hamas an ultimatum. Cut off their electricity and water and end humanitarian aid. Open the gates of hell,” the far-right minister says, speaking at a conference ahead of the security cabinet meeting to discuss a response to Hamas.
“We need to tell Hamas at the moment we return to war that after we arrest all the terrorists, for any hostage that is God forbid harmed, we will on that very day annex five percent of the Strip’s territory,” he says.
Previous threats by Israeli leaders to cut off water and aid to the Strip were cited as proof of genocidal intent in a case at The Hague.
