Israeli team due in Qatar for Gaza truce talks / Photo: Jack GUEZ - AFP
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Israeli team due in Qatar for Gaza truce talks
Israel is due to send a delegation to Qatar on Monday for a fresh round of talks on extending a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, after cutting off the electricity supply to ramp up pressure on Hamas.
The first phase of the deal expired at the beginning of March with no agreement on subsequent stages that should secure a lasting end to the war that erupted with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
There are differences over how to proceed -- Hamas wants immediate negotiations on the next phase, but Israel prefers extending phase one.
Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the ceasefire deal, saying in a statement Monday Israel "refuses to commence the second phase, exposing its intentions of evasion and stalling".
Media reports said a top official from the domestic security agency Shin Bet will lead Israel's delegation.
Israel has halted aid deliveries to Gaza amid the deadlock, and on Sunday announced it was cutting off the territory's electricity supply.
"We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after" the war, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said as he ordered the power cut.
The move echoed the early days of the war when Israel announced a "complete siege" on the Palestinian territory, severing the electricity supply which was only restored in mid-2024.
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanoua said Israel's move will impact its hostages still held in Gaza.
"The decision to cut electricity is a failed option and poses a threat to its (Israeli) prisoners, who will only be freed through negotiations," Qanoua said in a statement on Monday.
Germany criticised Israel Monday for its latest decisions.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said Gaza was "again threatened with a food shortage" and that cutting off electricity was "unacceptable and not compatible with (Israel's) obligations under international law".
The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies its main desalination plant, and Gazans now mainly rely on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now live in tents across Gaza, where temperatures reach a night-time low of about 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit).
Top Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq called Israel's decision "to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine, and water" a "desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance".
- 'Long-term truce' -
Hamas has repeatedly demanded that the second phase of the truce -- brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States -- include a comprehensive hostage-prisoner exchange, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire and the reopening of border crossings to end the blockade.
Spokesman Hazem Qassem told AFP that Hamas wanted the mediators to ensure Israel "complies with the agreement... and proceeds with the second phase according to the agreed-upon terms".
Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase involving hostage releases and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.
US envoy Adam Boehler, who has held unprecedented direct talks with Hamas, told CNN Sunday a deal could be reached "within weeks" to secure the release of all remaining hostages, not just the five dual Israeli-US nationals, most of whom have been confirmed dead.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the October 7 attack, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed dead.
Boehler told CNN a "long-term truce" was "real close", but later Sunday he told Israel's Channel 12 that Washington would back any Israeli decision, including a return to war.
- 'Nothing available' -
Trump had earlier proposed expelling Palestinians from Gaza, prompting Arab leaders to offer an alternative reconstruction plan for the territory that does not involve displacement.
The initial 42-day phase of the truce, which began on January 19, reduced hostilities after more than 15 months of relentless fighting that displaced nearly all of Gaza's 2.4 million people.
During phase one, 25 living Israeli hostages and eight bodies were exchanged for about 1,800 Palestinians in Israeli custody.
The truce also allowed in much-needed food, shelter and medical assistance.
After Israel cut the aid flow on March 2, UN rights experts accused it of "weaponising starvation".
At a UN distribution of flour in Jabalia, northern Gaza, Abu Mahmoud Salman, 56, said that with fresh supplies now closed off, "there is nothing available".
"The markets are empty... prices are high, and there is no income. The situation in Gaza is difficult," he told AFP.
Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, while Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,467 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from both sides.
H.Davenport--NG
