Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen on Sunday directed the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) to immediately cut off the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip, in an apparent attempt to put pressure on the enclave, where around 24 hostages are still presumed to be alive, while the bodies of 35 more, are still held. (Pics/AFP)
Updated on : 10 March,2025 10:35 PM IST | Compiled by : ronak mastakar
In a short video statement, Cohen said, "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'"
Cohen's office circulated a letter sent to the IEC directing it to stop selling electricity to power stations in Gaza
Speaking to The Times of Israel, an Israeli official said that Cohen's decision is less dramatic than he made it appear. The official said that the supply of electricity from Israel to Gaza was cut off after October 7. However, in November, Israel said it was renewing supply to a desalination plant near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. The official said Israel cut the power to that plant
The plant serves over 600,000 people in Gaza 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 start of the war between Israel and Hamas met around 15 percent of the 2 million-plus people's need for water
Cohen's decision comes after Israel said on March 2 that it was halting the entry of goods into Gaza over Hamas' decision not 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
Western governments and Arab nations criticised Israel for halting the entry of aid into Gaza. However, the US supported Israel's decision. Israel has said there is enough aid already present in Gaza to meet the needs of its residents and that Hamas uses the supply of goods to boost its control of the enclave and fund its attacks on Israel
Last week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was prepared to increase the pressure and would not rule out cutting off all electricity supply to Gaza if Hamas did not change its stance on demands in talks to secure the release of the hostages and end the war
The first phase of the hostage-ceasefire deal that came into effect on January 19 witnessed an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza after over a year of fighting triggered by Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages
Negotiations on terms of the second phase of the deal were scheduled to start on February 3. However, Israel has refused to participate in them as Israel under phase two needs to withdraw fully from Gaza and agree to a permanent end to the war in exchange for the remaining living hostages
