Israel cuts off electricity supply to Palestine's Gaza; minister says move to come into effect ‘immediately’

Israel on Sunday said it is cutting off the electricity supply to Gaza as two countries remained at war.

Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that he had ordered his team to stop supplying electricity to Gaza. This comes a week after the minister had blocked all aid into the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip," Cohen said in a video statement," he was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

“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.

Israel had earlier warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next. The new letter from Israel's energy minister to the Israel Electric Corporation tells it to stop selling power to Gaza.

Gaza, a coastal territory, had its infrastructure go through extensive damage following the war. Now, generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply.

Sunday's electricity cut also could affect water pumps and sanitation, reported the Associated Press. While the full effect of the order is yet to be assessed, the arid territory's desalination plants receive power for producing drinking water.

Israel vs Hamas

Last week, Israel had stopped all supplies of goods to the territory of over 2 million people, following the end of the ceasefire on March 1.

The move mirrored the time when it imposed a siege in the earliest days of its war with Hamas.

Israel seeks to press the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. It wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.

Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.

Hamas on Sunday called for an immediate start of the ceasefire's second phase, following its latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without changes to its position. It also warned that cutting off electricity would affect Israeli hostages as well.

The first phase of the ceasefire allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.