Gaza: EU leaders support Arab plan, Israel cuts power
International fury is rising over Israel cutting the sole power line to Gaza including its desalination plant, as a breach of international humanitarian law.
The Palestinian Authority said Israel’s decision to halt the electricity supply to Gaza was “an escalation in the genocide” in the war-ravaged territory.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the Israeli Ministry of Energy’s decision to cut electricity to the Gaza Strip, considering it an escalation in the genocide, displacement and humanitarian disaster in Gaza”, which is controlled by Hamas and not the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
The British government on Monday called on Israel to restore the electricity supply to Gaza, warning the country could be in violation of international law.
“We’re deeply concerned by these reports and urge Israel to lift these restrictions,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesman told reporters.
“We’re clear that a halt on goods and supplies entering Gaza, including basic needs such as electricity, risks breaching Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.”
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanoua said Israel’s move will impact its hostages still held in Gaza.
“The decision to cut electricity is a failed option and poses a threat to its (Israeli) prisoners, who will only be freed through negotiations,” Qanoua said in a statement on Monday.
Germany criticised Israel Monday for its latest decisions.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said Gaza was “again threatened with a food shortage” and that cutting off electricity was “unacceptable and not compatible with (Israel’s) obligations under international law”.
The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies its main desalination plant, and Gazans now mainly rely on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in tents across Gaza, where temperatures reach a night-time low of about 12 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Israel is due to send a delegation to Qatar on Monday for a fresh round of talks on extending a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, after cutting off the electricity supply to ramp up pressure on Hamas.
Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the ceasefire deal, saying in a statement Monday Israel “refuses to commence the second phase, exposing its intentions of evasion and stalling”.
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EU BACKS ARAB PLAN TO REBUILD GAZA
European leaders are supporting an $A84 billion Arab-backed plan for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza that was previously rejected by the US and Israel, as power to the embattled enclave is cut off.
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the UK issued a joint statement on saying they welcome the plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders at an emergency summit on Tuesday.
“The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises - if implemented - swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza,” the foreign ministers’ statement said.
“Recovery and reconstruction efforts must be based upon a solid political and security framework acceptable to both Israelis and Palestinians, which provides long term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians alike,” they continued.
The coalition added that it “explicitly” supports the “central role” of the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda in post-war Gaza.
“We are clear that Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more,” it added.
The plan calls for a committee that would temporarily oversee humanitarian aid and manage the Strip’s affairs under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.
It has been rejected by Israel and Donald Trump, who has pushed resettling Palestinians outside the territory and expressed a vision of transforming Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Both parties say the plan fails to address the realities in Gaza.
“Residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance,” Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for Mr Trump’s National Security Council, said in a statement earlier this week.
“President Trump stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas,” he added.
Separately, Iran also reportedly rejected the plan as it supports only a one-state solution for Palestine, not the proposed two-state solution where it exists alongside Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it will send a negotiating team to Qatar to continue efforts to extend the ceasefire hostage deal in Gaza, with help from US-backed mediators.
ISRAEL CUTS POWER TO GAZA
The Israeli government has ordered the nation’s power company to cut electricity to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip in an attempt to pressure the enclave to release at least 24 hostages
Energy Minister Eli Cohen instructed the Israel Electric Corporation on Sunday to cut power to the region, and sent a letter to the IEC ordering it to stop selling electricity to Gaza power stations.
“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’,” he said in a video statement.
An Israeli official said the order will largely impact a single desalination plant, the only facility in the Strip still running on a power line supplied from Israel. Power was cut to Gaza after the October 7 attacks.
The desalination plant serves more than 600,000 Gaza residents and is one of three seawater processing facilities in the region. Before the war, it provided water for about 15 per cent of the population.
Hamas spokesperson Izzat al-Rishq said the move was “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics.”
“We strongly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine and water”.
HOSTAGES PRESSURE NETANYAHU
More than 50 freed Israeli hostages urged Benjamin Netanyahu to fully implement the Gaza ceasefire deal and secure the release of those still held in the Palestinian territory.
“We who have experienced the inferno know that a return to war is life threatening for those still left behind,” a group of 56 freed hostages said in a letter posted to Instagram.
“Implement the agreement in full, in one single manoeuvre.”
Among those to sign the letter was Yarden Bibas, whose wife and two young sons died while held captive in Gaza.
Their plea came as Hamas released a video showing Israeli hostage Matan Angrest alive, footage that his family said had left them “shaken”.
In the footage, Angrest, who turned 22 in November, also calls on the Israeli authorities to implement the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire ended on March 1 after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, though hostilities have not resumed.
While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack on Israel, 58 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has said are dead.
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Originally published as Gaza: EU leaders support Arab plan, Israel cuts power