Israel says it has cut off electricity to Gaza in what seems like another attempt to force Hamas to accept changes it wants to impose upon the ceasefire terms agreed in January.
Israel imposed a blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza early in March in an attempt to force Hamas into extending the ceasefire’s first phase and releasing more captives.
It wants to do that to avoid moving to the second phase, which would entail a permanent end to the war.
Aid agencies, human rights organisations and countries, including some of Israel’s allies, have denounced the decision, citing its humanitarian impact and international laws prohibiting the collective punishment of a civilian population.
But according to statements from Gaza and media reports, this power cut announcement is not as it seems.
Here’s everything we know:
What exactly did Israel announce?
It said all electricity it provides to Gaza will be cut.
In a social media post on Sunday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said he had “cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip immediately”.
“Enough with the talk, it’s time for action!” he said on the day before another round of ceasefire negotiations in Doha.
However, according to Israeli media, the announcement may be less dramatic than its proponents have made it appear.
You mean Gaza won’t go dark?
It was already dark.
According to The Times of Israel, all electricity from Israel into Gaza was already cut in the wake of the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, during which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel and about 250 people were captured and taken to Gaza.
In November, the electricity supply to a desalination plant near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza was restored. The plant supports about 600,000 mostly displaced civilians in central and southern Gaza.
The plant will now subsist on stored power, generators and what remains of the solar panels not damaged or destroyed by Israeli shelling.
Did Israel only cut electricity and aid?
No.
In its attempt to revise the terms of the ceasefire it signed in January, Israel has also launched military strikes across the enclave and has told the media it is preparing a resumption of fighting in Gaza.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has issued daily summaries of civilians killed during the ceasefire.
Palestinians in Rafah, where Israel now wants to keep a military presence in violation of the ceasefire, have been attacked by Israeli tanks and drones since Friday, killing at least three people and wounding more.
How has Hamas responded?
In a statement issued on Sunday night, Hamas accused Israel of “cheap blackmail”.
“We strongly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine, and water,” Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, wrote, characterising the move as “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance”.
“Cutting off electricity, closing the crossings, stopping aid, relief and fuel, and starving our people, constitutes collective punishment and a full-fledged war crime,” al-Risheq added.
Who supports Israel in this?
The United States.
Israel says its current blockade of Gaza is in fact to force Hamas to comply with a proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff involving extending the first phase of the ceasefire and returning a number of the Israeli captives.
Witkoff has yet to publicly confirm his role in the plan he is widely credited with having devised.
However, speaking to journalists before Monday’s talks in Doha, Witkoff confirmed his and the US administration’s continued full support for Israel, up to and including joint US and Israeli military action against Hamas.
At the same time, the US is conducting direct talks with Hamas over the release of five captives with US citizenship who are held by the group, only one of whom is thought to be alive.
Who doesn’t support Israel in these blockades?
Pretty much everyone else.
Both Egypt and Qatar, who have mediated the ceasefire talks, as well as Saudi Arabia and Jordan released statements this month criticising the Israeli move to block food, medicine and fuel into the Strip.
“Humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool,” France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Criminal Court, which issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant last year, condemned the block on aid.
International rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have also condemned the renewed blockade, describing it as a breach of international law and a crime against humanity.
How could this affect the ongoing negotiations in Qatar?
That remains to be seen.
Hamas said in a statement it has “dealt flexibly” with mediators, including US envoy Adam Boehler, who is overseeing the direct talks on the US captives, and hopes to proceed to the agreed-upon stage two of the ceasefire.
As part of those talks, Israeli media reports said, Hamas is considering parallel US demands made “over Israel’s head” that the current stage of the ceasefire be extended for 60 days in exchange for the return of 10 living Israeli captives.
