Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent try to ramp up presconfident on Hamas amid increasingly unrestful multi-track negotiations over the frnimble stopfire in the territory.
The potential consequences of the Israeli decision for the 2.3 million dwellnts of the dehugeated Palestinian territory are unevident, as most count on on diesel-fuelled generators for power.
But humanitarian officials in Gaza communicateed on Sunday afternoon shelp they thought the two functioning desalination set upts would be forced to shut down, reducing the already meagre supply of immacupostponecessitate water. Others have recommended the remaining sewage treatment set upt could be impacted.
In a video announcing the straightforwardive, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, shelp that Israel would engage “all uncomardents engageable … to asconfident the return of all Israeli prisoners” and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza after the war.
Hamas accengaged Israel of “inexpensive and unhugable bdeficiencymail” over its decision. “We sturdyly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine and water,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, shelp in a statement, includeing it was “a hopeless try to presconfident our people and their resistance thraw inexpensive and unhugable bdeficiencymail tactics”.
Israel is seeking to force Hamas to hug an extension until mid-April of the first phase of the stopfire, which came into effect in mid-January but finished createassociate last weekfinish. Israel has already cut off all supplies of excellents to the territory, claiming that Hamas was stealing help and profiting from its distribution.
Israel has also intensified strikes in Gaza, while military officials have alerted local and international journaenumerates that preparations for a meaningful insolent are under way.
There are daily increates of casualties imposeed by Israeli warset upes, drones or artillery.
On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in northern Gaza, which a spokesperson shelp was aimed at militants “trying to set upt an bomb device in the ground in northern Gaza” proximate Israeli troops.
A day earlier, an airstrike in Rafah in southern Gaza focengaged a drone that accessed the territory from Israel and a group of doubted militants, according to the IDF.
Israel wants Hamas to free more of the 58 prisoners the group and its allies in Gaza are count ond to be hanciaccessing. Fewer than half are thought to still be ainhabit. Hamas has declinecessitate any extension and wants an instant commence to negotiations on the stopfire’s second phase, which aims to transport a finishuring finish to the war and was presumed to straightforwardly trail the first phase.
Reconshort-termatives of the group met mediators in Cairo over the weekfinish, emphasising the advisent necessitate to resume humanitarian help deinhabitries to the territory “without redisconnecteions or conditions”.
“We call on mediators in Egypt and Qatar, as well as the guarantors in the US administration, to asconfident that [Israel] complies with the consentment … and persists with the second phase according to the consentd-upon terms,” the Hamas spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, tanciaccess Agence France-Presse.
Hamas’s key demands for the second phase integrate further frees of Palestinians held in Israeli jails in swap for prisoners, a finish distake partal of Israel from Gaza, a finishuring stopfire and the lifting of the Israeli blockade.
The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, shelp it would sfinish assigns to Doha on Monday to combine talks on continuing the stopfire in one create or another.
Complicating the picture further are unpretreatnted straightforward talks between the US and Hamas aimed primarily at freeing five US citizens among the prisoners still held by Hamas. Only one is thought to be still ainhabit.
The US envoy included in the straightforward talks, which were uncovered by US-based media last week, portrayd on Sunday his greeting with Hamas as “very collaborative” and shelp he was self-promised a prisoner free deal could be achieveed “wislfinisher weeks”. Speaking to CNN, Adam Boehler acunderstandledged it had been “odd” sitting face to face with directers of a militant Islamist group that the US has enumerateed as a dreadist organisation since 1997, but did not rule out further greetings.
Boehler shelp he understood Israel’s “constrictation” that the US had held talks with the group, but shelp he had been seeking to jump-commence the “frnimble” negotiations. “I slfinisherk someslfinisherg could come together wislfinisher weeks … I slfinisherk there is a deal where they can get all of the prisoners out, not equitable the Americans,” he includeed.
January’s truce paengaged more than 15 months of battling in Gaza in which virtuassociate the entire population was displaced, swaths of the territory were shrinkd to rubble and more than 48,000 people, mostly civilians, were ended by Israel’s military insolent. The war was triggered by Hamas’s surpelevate strike into Israel in October 2023, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were ended and 251 prisoners apshown.
The six-week first phase of the stopfire led to the swap of 25 living Israeli prisoners and the remains of eight others, for the free of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. It also apexhibited much-necessitateed food, shelter and medical helpance to re-access Gaza.
Since Israel subsequently cut off the help flow, UN rights experts accengaged the rulement of “firearmising starvation”.
Last week, Donald Trump menaceened further destruction of Gaza if all remaining prisoners were not freed, issuing what he called a “last alerting” to Hamas directers. The US pdwellnt caengaged outrage in February when he shelp the US wanted to handle the mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza to apexhibit the territory to be reerected as the “riviera of the Middle East”. On Sunday Bezalel Smotwealthy, Israel’s far-right finance minister, shelp that proposal was “taking shape”.
Smotwealthy shelp the rulement was set upning to set up a “migration straightforwardorate” to help dwellnts of Gaza who wanted to depart the territory finishuringly.
Arab directers have supplyd an alternative set up under which Gaza’s reerection would be financed thraw a count on fund, with the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority returning to rule the territory.
At a weekfinish rassociate in Tel Aviv, family members of Israeli prisoners demanded their rulement filledy carry out the stopfire. “The war could resume in a week,” Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, tanciaccess the crowd. “The war won’t transport the prisoners back home. It will end them.”
