Cnn
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Israel says that he reduced the flow of electricity to the last installation of Gaza which still received energy from Israel Electric Corporation.
“I have just signed an order for the immediate cessation of electricity to the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Saturday, adding that the country “would exploit all the tools at our disposal, to ensure the return of all hostages”.
Israel cut the electricity supplies in Gaza following Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostage, but the Israel Electric Corporation (CEI) had since reconnected the power to an installation of wastewater treatment following a government directive.
A CEI spokesperson confirmed to CNN that “today, a directive has been received to disconnect (electricity) to the installation, and this was done.”
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem suggested that this decision would have little practical effect given the previous cuts. However, he criticized him as “a behavior which confirms the intention of the occupation to continue his genocidal war against Gaza, thanks to the use of famine policies, without taking into account all international laws and standards”.
Since Israel launched his war against Hamas in Gaza in response to October 7 attacks, the Gazans have largely relied on generators and solar energy for electricity.
The far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben Gvir praised the last decision of the Ministry of Energy and urged the government to go even further, targeting the fuel that had entered the enclave following the ceasefire and the hostages of agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“The Gaza Strip must be completely and immediately blackened as long as even an Israeli hostage is detained there,” he said. “Israel must bomb the huge fuel deposits that have entered the band within the framework of the unfortunate agreement, as well as the generators exploited by Hamas.”
The news comes while discussions on the fragile ceasefire and the agreement between Israel and Hamas take place.
Last week, Israel announced that it would prevent the entry of all humanitarian aid into the enclave to put pressure on Hamas to accept new conditions for an extension of the ceasefire agreement after the expiration of the initial truce phase.
Israel wants to extend the first phase of the agreement to continue the exchange of hostages, living and deceased, in exchange for the continuous liberation of Palestinian prisoners and the flow of higher aid volumes in Gaza – but without any commitment to end the war. Hamas insisted to move forward with the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which involves negotiations for a permanent end of the war in Gaza.
Friday, a delegation from Hamas arrived in Cairo to discuss the cease-fire agreement and to put pressure for a second potential phase of the agreement, while Israel said on Saturday that it had “accepted an invitation” of the mediators supported by the United States to send an Israeli delegation to Doha on Monday, “in an effort to advance negotiations.”
An Israeli source told CNN that Israel “gave negotiations a chance” before returning to the fighting in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostages Adam Boehler expressed his optimism on Sunday about a potential truce between Israel and Hamas after direct talks with the militant group this week.
“I think something could come together in a few weeks. I would say that I think there is enough to conclude an agreement between what Hamas wants and what they have accepted and what Israel wants and is accepted. And I think there is an agreement where they can release all prisoners, not just the Americans, “Boehler told Jake Tapper from CNN on” State of the Union “.
It is believed that fifty-nine hostages would remain in Gaza, more than half of which are dead, according to the office of the Israeli Prime Minister. Five of the 59 are American Israelis, including only one – Edan Alexander – is still alive.
On Sunday, the senior Hamas official, Taher Al Nunu, was cited by Al Aqsa TV – a chain affiliated to the militant group – saying that he did not oppose the publication of Alexander as part of the negotiations to end the war.
Hamas had linked this message to US officials during recent talks to the implementation of a provisional agreement aimed at ending the war, Alnu said.
This is a story in development and will be updated.