Israel ordered an immediate power cut to the Gaza Strip on Sunday to pressure Hamas to release hostages on Sunday. At the same time, Tel Aviv was preparing for new talks on the future of a truce with the Palestinian group.
Israel’s decision came a week after it cut off all humanitarian aid to the war-torn territory. The move is reminiscent of the early days of the war, when Israel declared a “siege” of Gaza.
The first phase of the truce ended on March 1 and both sides have refrained from full-scale war despite sporadic violence, including an airstrike on Sunday that Israel said targeted militants.
Hamas has repeatedly called for the immediate start of talks on a second phase of a truce agreed by the United States, Qatar and Egypt to end the war for good. Israel says it prefers to extend the first phase until mid-April and has suspended aid to Gaza because of the stalemate. On Sunday, it ordered a power cut.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen said in a video message:
“I have just signed an order to immediately cut off the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip. We will use all means at our disposal to return the hostages and guarantee that Hamas will no longer be in Gaza the day after the war ends.”
Palestinians are freezing without power
Just days after the war began on October 7, 2023 as a result of a Hamas attack, Israel cut electricity to Gaza and did not restore it until mid-2024. The only power line between Israel and Gaza feeds the main desalination plant, and Gazans rely mostly on solar panels and fuel generators to produce electricity.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are now living in tents across Gaza, and nighttime temperatures are now forecast at 12 C.
Hamas representatives met with mediators in Cairo over the weekend, emphasising the urgent need to resume humanitarian aid deliveries “without restrictions or conditions,” Hamas said in a statement.
“We call on the mediators in Egypt and Qatar, as well as the guarantors in the US administration, to ensure that the (Israeli) occupation complies with the agreement … and continue the second phase in accordance with the agreed terms,” spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP.
He said Hamas’ key demands in the second phase include an exchange of hostages and prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of crossings and the lifting of the blockade.
After the meeting with the mediators, another Hamas spokesman, Abdul Latif Al-Qanoua, said that so far the situation was “positive.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it would send delegates to Doha on Monday.
The truce largely ended more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, where virtually the entire population has been displaced by Israel’s relentless military campaign in response to the October 7 attack. The 2023 Hamas attack killed 1,218 people, mostly civilians, on the Israeli side, while the Israeli response in Gaza killed at least 48,458 people, mostly civilians, according to both sides.
