Israel’s Energy Minister, Eli Cohen has ordered complete cut off of electricity supply to Gaza.
Cohen in a post on X has confirmed reports, saying that he has signed an order to “cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip immediately.” He added, “Enough with the talk, it’s time for action!”
He asserted that Israel would use all the tools at its disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after the war.
Cohen’s announcement comes a week after Israel cut off all supplies of goods to the territory to over 2 million people.
It has sought to press Hamas to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended last weekend.
Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
The ceasefire has paused the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The first phase allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli forces have withdrawn to buffer zones inside Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the first time since early in the war and hundreds of trucks of aid entered per day until Israel suspended supplies.
Israel had warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next.
The full effects of the order to cut off electricity supply are not immediately clear, but the territory’s desalination plants receive power for producing drinking water.
Gaza has been largely devastated by the war, and generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply.
Gaza had been reliant on Israel for much of its electricity supply before the war, but since October 2023, Israel has severely restricted the supply of electricity, and restricted the fuel needed for Gaza’s sole power plant.
Last Sunday, an Israeli newspaper reported that the Israeli government was willing to cut electricity and water if Hamas did not agree to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal instead of moving on to phase two.
The newspaper reported that mediators have been given a few days to persuade Hamas to bend to Israel’s demands, but that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not prepared to agree to ending the war because that would mean Hamas remaining in power.
Hamas Focused On Ceasefire’s Next Phase
Meanwhile, Hamas has pressed to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase instead, 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.
The militant group on Sunday, March 9, 2025, said that it wrapped up the latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without changes to its position, calling for an immediate start of the ceasefire’s second phase.
Hamas reiterated its support for a proposal for the establishment of an independent committee of technocrats to run Gaza until Palestinians hold presidential and legislative elections.
That committee would work “under the umbrella” of the Palestinian Authority (PA), based in the occupied West Bank. Israel has rejected the PA having any role in Gaza, but hasn’t put forward an alternative for postwar rule.
Meanwhile, a US envoy, Adam Boehler envisages a longer truce.
“I think you could see something like a long-term truce, where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree they’re not part of the political party going forward. I think that’s a reality. It’s real close.”
Adam Boehler
When asked if he would speak with the militant group again, Boehler replied, “You never know.”
He opined that something could come together within weeks, and expressed hope for a deal that would see all hostages released, not only the American ones.
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