Thru stopping aid, attacks in Gaza and now turning off electricity….
Hamas wants to move on to Phase 2 of the agreement between Israel….
Neither party trusts each other….
Syria IS a mess with left over Assad forces battling Syrian forces which have been reported to be slaughtering people....
Iran is going back and forth with Trump….
Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory.
The potential consequences of the Israeli decision for the 2.3 million residents of the devastated Palestinian territory are unclear, as most rely on diesel-fuelled generators for power.
But humanitarian officials in Gaza contacted on Sunday afternoon said they thought the two functioning desalination plants would be forced to shut down, reducing the already meagre supply of clean water. Others have suggested the remaining sewage treatment plant could be affected.
In a video announcing the directive, Eli Cohen, Israel’s energy minister, saidthat Israel would use “all means available … to ensure the return of all Israeli hostages” and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza after the war.
Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail” over its decision. “We strongly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine and water,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement, adding it was “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics”.
Israel is seeking to force Hamas to accept an extension until mid-April of the first phase of the ceasefire, which came into effect in mid-January but ended formally last weekend. Israel has already cut off all supplies of goods to the territory, claiming that Hamas was stealing aid and profiting from its distribution.
Israel has also intensified strikes in Gaza, while military officials have briefed local and international journalists that preparations for a major offensive are under way.
There are daily reports of casualties inflicted by Israeli warplanes, drones or artillery.
On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in northern Gaza, which a spokesperson said was aimed at militants “attempting to plant an explosive device in the ground in northern Gaza” near Israeli troops.
A day earlier, an airstrike in Rafah in southern Gaza targeted a drone that entered the territory from Israel and a group of suspected militants, according to the IDF.
Israel wants Hamas to release more of the 58 hostages the group and its allies in Gaza are believed to be holding. Fewer than half are thought to still be alive. Hamas has rejected any extension and wants an immediate start to negotiations on the ceasefire’s second phase…
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