耶路撒冷-以色列周日宣布切断对巴勒斯坦的电力供应加沙。全面的影响还不清楚，但是干旱地区的海水淡化厂获得了生产饮用水的电力。哈马斯称这是以色列“饥饿政策”的一部分。
以色列上周切断了商品供应200多万巴勒斯坦人的领土，这是它在与哈马斯战争的早期实行的围困的翻版。它迫使激进组织接受一项第一阶段的延长停火协议。这一阶段于上周末结束。以色列希望哈马斯释放剩下的一半人质，以换取谈判持久停战的承诺。
相反，哈马斯希望就更为艰难的停火第二阶段展开谈判，这一阶段将包括从加沙释放剩余人质、以色列撤军以及实现持久和平。据信哈马斯有24名活着的人质和35具尸体。
该激进组织警告说，切断供应会影响人质。该组织周日表示，它结束了与埃及调解人的最新一轮停火谈判，立场没有改变，呼吁立即开始停火的第二阶段。
以色列表示，将于周一派遣一个代表团前往卡塔尔，“努力推进谈判。”
以色列曾警告说，当它停止所有供应，水和电可能是下一个。以色列能源部长给以色列电力公司的信告诉它停止向加沙出售电力。
该领土及其基础设施大部分遭到破坏，包括医院在内的大多数设施现在都使用发电机。停电可能会影响水泵和卫生设施。以色列电力公司的一名发言人表示，据他们所知，断电只影响了一个废水处理厂。
哈马斯发言人哈泽姆·卡萨姆称这是以色列“饥饿政策的一部分，明显无视所有国际法律和规范。”他说，自战争开始以来，以色列几乎已经切断了电力供应。
以色列因切断供应而面临尖锐的批评。联合国人权办公室周五表示:“任何拒绝平民生活必需品入境的行为都可能构成集体惩罚。”。
国际刑事法庭称，有理由相信以色列使用“饥饿作为战争手段”发出逮捕令去年给本雅明·内塔尼亚胡总理的。这一指控是南非在国际法院的案件的核心指责以色列种族灭绝.
以色列否认这些指控，称已经允许足够的救援物资进入，并将物资短缺归咎于联合国没有能力分发这些物资。它还指责哈马斯抽走援助。
伊朗支持的也门胡塞武装领导人阿卜杜勒·马利克·胡塞武装星期五警告说，如果加沙得不到援助，在也门附近对以色列船只的袭击将在四天内恢复。胡塞人将他们早期的袭击描述为与那里的巴勒斯坦人团结一致。
停火暂停了以色列和哈马斯之间有史以来最致命、最具破坏性的战斗，这场战斗是由哈马斯领导的2023年10月7日对以色列南部的袭击引发的。第一阶段允许25名活着的人质和其他8人的遗体返回，交换条件是释放近2000名巴勒斯坦囚犯。
以色列军队已经撤到加沙内部的缓冲区，数十万流离失所的巴勒斯坦人自战争初期以来首次返回加沙北部，每天都有数百辆卡车的援助物资进入，直到以色列暂停供应。
周三的白宫做出了惊人的确认美国与哈马斯的直接对话。
星期天，特使亚当·博勒告诉以色列广播电台Kan，哈马斯建议休战5到10年，同时解除武装。该激进组织此前称解除武装是不可接受的。
Boehler告诉美国有线电视新闻网，“我认为你可以看到类似长期休战的东西，我们原谅囚犯，哈马斯放下武器，他们同意他们不是未来政党的一部分。我认为这是现实。真的很近。”
当被问及是否会再次与激进组织对话时，Boehler回答说，“你永远不知道。”
他补充说:“我认为几周内可能会有一些进展，”并表示希望达成一项协议，让所有人质获释，而不仅仅是美国人质。Boehler说在加沙的五名美国人质中有四名已经死亡，Edan Alexander还活着。
哈马斯周日没有提到谈判，但重申支持建立一个由技术专家组成的独立委员会来管理加沙，直到巴勒斯坦举行总统和立法选举。
哈马斯在2023年10月的袭击造成以色列境内约1200人死亡，其中大多数是平民，并劫持了251人作为人质。大多数人在停火协议或其他安排中被释放。
根据加沙卫生部的数据，以色列的军事进攻已经在加沙造成超过48，000名巴勒斯坦人死亡，其中大部分是妇女和儿童，但没有说明死者中有多少是武装分子。
随着对加沙的供应被切断，巴勒斯坦人报告说，在穆斯林斋月期间，日益减少的物品价格急剧上涨。
“自停火开始以来，局势有所改善。但在此之前，情况非常糟糕，”南部城市汗尤尼斯的Fares al-Qeisi说。"我向上帝发誓，没有人能满足他们的饥饿。"
Israel says it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza
JERUSALEM --Israel announced Sunday it is cutting off its electricity supply toGaza. The full effects were not immediately clear, but the arid territory's desalination plants receive power for producing drinking water. Hamas called it part of Israel's “starvation policy."
Israel last week cut off supplies of goodsto the territory of over 2 million Palestinians, an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas. It's pressing the militant group to accept anextension of the first phaseof their ceasefire. That phase ended last weekend. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
The militant group — which has warned that cutting off supplies would affect the hostages — said Sunday it wrapped up the latest round of ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators without changes to its position, calling for an immediate start of the ceasefire's second phase.
Israel has said it would send a delegation to Qatar on Monday “in an effort to advance the negotiations.”
Israel had warned when it stopped all supplies that water and electricity could be next. The letter from Israel's energy minister to the Israel Electric Corporation tells it to stop selling power to Gaza.
The territory and its infrastructure have been largely devastated, and most facilities, including hospitals, now use generators. The electricity cut could affect water pumps and sanitation. A spokesperson for the Israel Electric Corporation said as far as they know, the cutoff affected only a wastewater treatment plant.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam called it part of Israel's “starvation policy, in clear disregard for all international laws and norms.” He said Israel has ”practically" cut off electricity since the war began.
Israel has faced sharp criticism over cutting off supplies. “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment,” the United Nations human rights office said Friday.
The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when itissued an arrest warrantfor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. The allegation is central to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justiceaccusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denied the accusations, saying it has allowed in enough aid and blaming shortages on what it called the U.N.’s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid.
The leader of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, warned Friday that attacks against Israel-linked vessels off Yemen would resume within four days if aid doesn't resume to Gaza. The Houthis described their earlier attacks as solidarity with Palestinians there.
The ceasefire has paused the deadliest and most destructive fighting ever between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The first phase allowed the return of 25 living hostages and the remains of eight others in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israeli forces have withdrawn to buffer zones inside Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the first time since early in the war and hundreds of trucks of aid entered per day until Israel suspended supplies.
The White House on Wednesdaymade the surprise confirmationof direct U.S. talks with Hamas.
On Sunday, envoy Adam Boehler told Israeli broadcaster Kan that Hamas has suggested a truce of five to 10 years while it would disarm. The militant group has previously called disarming unacceptable.
Boehler told CNN that “I think you could see something like a long-term truce, where we forgive prisoners, where Hamas lays down their arms, where they agree they’re not part of the political party going forward. I think that’s a reality. It’s real close.”
When asked if he would speak with the militant group again, Boehler replied, “You never know.”
He added: “I think something could come together within weeks,” and expressed hope for a deal that would see all hostages released, not only American ones. Boehler has said four of the five American hostages in Gaza are dead, with Edan Alexander alive.
Hamas on Sunday didn't mention the talks, but reiterated its support for a proposal for the establishment of an independent committee of technocrats to run Gaza until Palestinians hold presidential and legislative elections.
Hamas’ attack in October 2023 killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and took 251 people hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many of the dead were militants.
With the cutoff of supplies to Gaza, Palestinians are reporting sharp price increases for dwindling items during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“Since the ceasefire began, the situation has improved a little. But before that, the situation was very bad,” said Fares al-Qeisi in the southern city of Khan Younis. “I swear to God, one could not satisfy their hunger.”
