Israel has announced it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza.
The full effects were not immediately clear, but the arid territory’s desalination plants will still receive power for producing drinking water. Hamas called it part of Israel’s “starvation policy”.
Israel last week cut off all supplies of goods to the territory of over 2 million Palestinians, in an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas.
It seeks to press the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended last weekend. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
The militant group — which has warned that cutting off supplies to Gaza would affect the hostages as well — said on Sunday (Monday AEDT) it wrapped up the latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without changes to its position, calling for an immediate start of the ceasefire’s second phase.
Israel has said it would send a delegation to Qatar on Monday “in an effort to advance the negotiations” around the ceasefire.
Israel had warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next. The new letter from Israel’s energy minister to the Israel Electric Corporation tells it to stop selling power to Gaza.
The coastal territory and its infrastructure have been largely devastated by the war, and most facilities, including hospitals, now use generators.
The electricity cut could affect water pumps and sanitation. A spokesperson for the Israel Electric Corporation said as far as they know, the cut-off affected only a wastewater treatment plant.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam called it part of Israel’s “starvation policy, in clear disregard for all international laws and norms.”
He said Israel has “practically” cut off electricity since the start of the war.
Israel has faced sharp criticism over cutting off supplies to Gaza.
“Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment,” the United Nations human rights office said on Friday.
