Israel Cuts Off Electricity Supply To War-Torn Gaza

Last Updated:March 09, 2025, 21:18 IST

The announcement comes a week after Israel cut off all supplies of goods to the territory to over 2 million people.

Gaza has been largely devastated by the war, and generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply. (File)

Israel on Sunday announced to cut off its electricity supply on “immediate" basis to war-torn Gaza.

Country’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen has instructed the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately cut off the electricity supply in an apparent bid to pile pressure on Hamas to return 59 hostages, who were kidnapped from Israel on October 7, 2023.

Cohen signed the order to stop the flow of electricity to Gaza shortly after the announcement.

“We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after,’" Cohen said in a video statement.

The announcement came days after Israel cut off all supplies of goods to the territory to over two million people over what it called Hamas’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, and threatened “additional consequences" and a return to war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier said that he was prepared to raise the pressure and would not rule out cutting off all electricity to Gaza if Hamas didn’t budge on its demands in talks to free the hostages and end the war.

However, Hamas has pressed to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase instead.

In July, Israel connected a water facility in Gaza to Israel’s electric grid to provide water on a medium- to longer-term basis for Gazans at a rate of up to 20,000 liters per day, a policy that served to maintain Israel’s global legitimacy, IDF sources said.

Gaza has been largely devastated by the war, and generators and solar panels are used for some of the power supply.

(With inputs from agencies)

Jerusalem, Israel

News world Israel Cuts Off Electricity Supply To War-Torn Gaza