Israel says it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza

JERUSALEM — Israel announced Sunday it is cutting off its electricity supply to Gaza.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 goods to 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 an extension of the first phase of 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 ...