Israel's Ben Gvir calls for aid to be bombed amid siege on Gaza
Israel's former national security minister has urged for the "complete shutdown of electricity and water" alongside the bombing of aid in Gaza, despite rights groups and experts warning of famine in the besieged enclave.
On Monday, far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir said that such measures should be taken in the Gaza Strip to "starve" Hamas before resuming the war "so that we can later crush them easily".
"The government should also order the bombing of the aid stocks that accumulated in Gaza in huge quantities during and before the ceasefire, along with a complete shutdown of electricity and water," Ben Gvir wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"If Hamas threatens to harm our hostages, it should know that it will be met with the execution of terrorists," he added.
Plans by Israeli authorities to cut off water and electricity were already circulating prior to Ben Gvir's statement.
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They are part of a strategy meant to apply "maximum pressure on the Gaza Strip and Hamas", according to Israeli broadcaster Kan 11.
The move, coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan, follows the blocking of aid from entering the Gaza Strip on Sunday after the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
'Israel’s total blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza is a cruel act of collective punishment'
- Doctors Without Borders
Hamas demanded that Israel moves to the second phase of the deal, which includes a definitive end of the war, an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining Israeli captives, as previously agreed.
Despite officially halting the fighting, the Israeli army has repeatedly violated the truce since it came into effect on 19 January, launching air strikes and shooting at Palestinians.
Several rights group and experts have condemned Israel's decision to block aid as a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law," warning that it could deepen the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In a post on X, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced the move.
"Humanitarian aid should never be used as a tool of war. Regardless of negotiations between warring parties, people in Gaza still need an immediate and massive scale-up of humanitarian supplies," MSF said.
"Israel’s total blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza is a cruel act of collective punishment and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."
Israel cuts power to desalination plants
On Monday evening, the Deir al-Balah municipality, located in central Gaza, announced that Israel had cut off power to two desalination plants, which supply about 70 percent of the residents of the area with water.
Israeli media outlets reported however that water was cut off from the Deir al-Balah stations due to a technical issue in one of the power lines, with the army preventing its repair.
According to the local municipality, the plants that stopped working produced about 20,000 cubic metres of desalinated water per day, mainly used for drinking and irrigation.
Without these systems, the population can suffer from dehydration and health risks such as kidney problems and waterborne diseases as a result of poor sanitation.
Gaza's population is already highly vulnerable after 15 months of Israel's bombardment and siege.
More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 on southern Israel that left 1,139 people dead.
The war has severely impacted the health sector in the enclave, particularly in the overcrowded southern areas of Mawasi, Rafah and Khan Younis, the Palestinian news agency Wafa previously reported.
The destruction of waste management infrastructure has resulted in the accumulation of rubbish, creating hazardous conditions for the affected residents.
The spread of insects and rodents further heightens the risk of disease, especially respiratory illnesses, which pose a severe danger to vulnerable populations, including children and the elderly.
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