The Israeli Energy Minister said on Sunday that he had immediately cut electricity to the Gaza Strip, a decision that could have a limited impact in Gaza, given the restrictions already in place, but this occurs when Israel tries to put pressure on Hamas in the midst of discussions on Their fragile truce.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal so that all the hostages have returned, and we will ensure that Hamas does not remain in Gaza in” day after “,” the Israeli energy minister, in a press release on Sunday.
The fate of around five dozen living hostages and remaining dead in Gaza and the future governance of the enclave are major collision points in the cease-fire talks. Israel insists that Hamas cannot play any role in the future of Gaza; Hamas said that it could be willing to give up civil governance, But firmly rejected the dissolution of its military wing.
The announcement of Mr. Cohen came while negotiators and mediators To discuss the ceasefire this week in Qatar. He follows Israel’s decision earlier this month Humanitarian aid and supplies in Gaza After the first stage of the original ceasefire in phase, expired.
The meaning that the last pressure on Hamas will be is not clear, given the severe restrictions which have already been imposed on the supply of electricity in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the attack led by Hamas against Israel which sparked the war in the Palestinian enclave, and in the light of the long -standing recourse of the Gazans with regard to alternative energy due to the alternative energy, and The light of the long -standing appeal of the Gazans with regard to alternative energy due to the boat of energies due to the alternative energy boat, and in the light of the long -standing request for the Gazans with regard to alternative energy due to the alternative energy boat, and in the light of the long -standing appeal of the alternative energy due to the alternative energy, and in the light of the Gazans, for a long time of the war of alternative energies Pre-war restrictions.
The clearest effect of the decision was disconnected, once again, a wastewater treatment plant in the enclave which had recently worked on Israeli energy.
The Israel Electric Corporation said on Sunday that it was sentenced to cutting the supply of this factory.
Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Monday to advance the cease-fire negotiations, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. President Trump’s candidate as a special interview for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, participated in Talks last week With Hamas officials, focused on securing the release of Israeli Americans who were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Only one of the five Israeli Americans has still considered it considered alive.
US officials are Expected in the region this week To continue the talks that have also been mediated by officials of Egypt and Qatar. A delegation from Hamas has also met in recent days with Egyptian mediators.
In mid-January, after 15 months of devastating war, Israel and Hamas accepted a complexPROGRESSIVE TRUCE intended to release hostages from Israel and held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel, and to strengthen the momentum to a complete ceasefire.
But after the end of the first phase on March 1 without agreement on the next step, Israel suggested another temporary extension of the ceasefire and the exchange of hostages.
The Israeli government’s decision to cut the extremely limited electricity supply it had provided to the Gaza Strip could affect continuous discussions.
Izzat al-Rishq, member of the Hamas political bureau, condemned Israel’s decision to cut electricity in a statement on Sunday, calling it “loss of time”. He accused Mr. Netanyahu of having tried to disrupt the cease-fire agreement and endanger the hostages, claiming that there is no way to follow “but of committing to implement the terms of the agreement and to start negotiations for the second phase”.
In the current state Blackout since the start of the war. Before the war, years of conflict and an Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade imposed to weaken Hamas had left the Gaza Electrical Network, providing only hours of limited power every day. The territory had relied on a fortune system, according to a 2023 report By the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, an Israeli reflection group at Bar-Ilan University. Half of the electricity was produced in Israel and half in Gaza from various sources, including a power plant supplied by diesel and private generators, as well as solar panels.
Since the start of the war, some Palestinians have been able to turn to generators or solar energy, but fuel for generators is also very short and limited by Israel. Israel said Hamas had stored the fuel that entered the territory for its own ends, including the launch of missiles.
Contributory reports were Adam RASGON,, Johnatan Reiss,, Abu Bakr Bashir And Liam battery.
