by Admin
10/3/2025
Israel has ordered an immediate halt to electricity supply to Gaza, intensifying pressure on Hamas to release Israeli hostages, even as both sides prepare for renewed negotiations on the future of their truce.
The move, announced on Sunday, comes a week after Israel blocked all humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged Gaza territory, echoing the early days of the conflict when it imposed a total “siege” on Gaza.
However, Hamas has condemned the electricity cut as “blackmail,” the same term it used when aid deliveries were halted.
The initial phase of the truce ended on March 1. Still, despite sporadic violence, including an Israeli airstrike on Sunday targeting alleged militants, both sides have so far avoided a return to full-scale war.
Hamas has been pushing for immediate talks on a second phase of the ceasefire, aiming for a permanent end to hostilities.
However, Israel favors extending the current phase until mid-April and has withheld aid to Gaza amid the ongoing deadlock.
On Sunday, Israel escalated its pressure tactics by cutting off the territory’s electricity supply.
“I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip,” Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said in a video statement.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after the war.”
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq denounced the decision, calling it “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics.”
Just days after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack triggered the war, Israel cut electricity to Gaza, only partially restoring it in mid-2024.
The territory’s only power line from Israel supports the main desalination plant, but most Gazans now rely on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to generate electricity.
With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced and living in tents, the situation is dire, particularly as night-time temperatures are forecast to drop to around 12 degrees Celsius
As negotiations over the truce continue, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, raising concerns over the impact of Israel’s latest measures.