Israel cut off the electricity supply to Gaza, officials said Sunday, affecting a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory. Israel last week suspended supplies of goods to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians, an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of the war, reports the AP. Israel had warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next. A letter from Israel's energy minister to the Israel Electric Corporation has instructed the utility to stop selling power to Gaza.
The Gaza territory and its infrastructure have been largely devastated, and most facilities, including hospitals, now use generators. A Hamas spokesman said that Israel has "practically" cut off electricity since the war began and called the latest decision part of Israel's "starvation policy, in clear disregard for all international laws and norms." The desalination plant was providing 18,000 cubic meters of water per day for central Gaza's Deir al-Balah area, according to Gisha, an Israeli organization dedicated to protecting Palestinians' right to freedom of movement.
Executive director Tania Hary said that the plant is expected to run on generators and produce around 2,500 cubic meters per day—about the amount in an Olympic swimming pool. Israel has faced sharp criticism over suspending supplies. The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used "starvation as a method of warfare" when it issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. Israel has denied the accusations, saying it has allowed in enough aid and blaming shortages on what it called the UN's inability to distribute it. It has also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid. More here.
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