Displaced Palestinian children push into a queue to get a portion of cooked food from a charity kitchen in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. AFP
Displaced Palestinian children push into a queue to get a portion of cooked food from a charity kitchen in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Sunday. AFP
Israel ordered an immediate halt to Gaza's electricity supply on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining hostages, even as it prepared for fresh talks on the future of its truce with the Palestinian resistance movement.
Israel's decision comes a week after it blocked all aid supplies to the war-battered territory, a move reminiscent of the initial days of the war when Israel announced a "siege" on Gaza.
The truce's initial phase ended on March 1 and both sides have refrained from returning to all-out war, despite sporadic violence.
Hamas has repeatedly called for an immediate start to negotiations on the ceasefire's second phase, which was negotiated by the US, Qatar and Egypt, aiming to end the war permanently.
Israel says it prefers extending phase one until mid-April, and halted aid to Gaza over the impasse.
On Sunday it ordered a cut in the electricity supply.
"I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip," Energy Minister Eli Cohen said in a video statement.
The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies the main desalination plant, and Gazans mainly rely now on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.
Public Broadcaster Kan reported Monday Israel has drafted plans to ramp up pressure under a scheme dubbed the "Hell Plan". This included following up the aid block with "displacing residents from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, halting the supply of electricity and a resumption of full-scale fighting".
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in tents across Gaza, with nighttime temperatures often falling to zero degree Celsius.
Hamas representatives met mediators in Cairo over the weekend, emphasising the urgent need to resume aid deliveries "without restrictions or conditions", a Hamas statement said.
"We call on mediators in Egypt and Qatar, as well as the guarantors in the US administration, to ensure that the occupation complies with the agreement... and proceeds with the second phase according to the agreed-upon terms," spokesman Hazem Qassem, said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it would send delegates to Doha on Monday.
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