Total siege? Hamas appears undeterred after Israel stops aid and electricity supply to Gaza

One week after Israel cut off aid supplies to the Gaza Strip, followed by the halt of electricity supply on Sunday, Walla News reported that Hamas seems unfazed, despite the apparently drastic Israeli moves.

According to several reports in recent days, the moves are part of a series of escalating steps by Israel, which could ultimately lead to the resumption of war, with the goal being to pressure Hamas into extending the hostage deal.

The Palestinian Authority said Monday that the stop of electricity amounted to “an escalation in the genocide, displacement and humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”

Last Friday, the UN human rights office condemned the earlier stop of humantarian aid, warning: “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment.

However, despite international criticism of the Israeli actions, they don’t appear to live up to the drastic headlines.

Walla News reported that the power line was the last remaining out of around 10 at the start of the war, most of which were cut by Hamas, and only supplied a desalination plant in the central part of the Strip.

Meir Shpigler, CEO of the Israel Electric Corporation, told the outlet: “There is currently no electricity supply to all areas of Gaza. We immediately issued an order to carry out the disconnection. Recently, there was only one connection, and even that was only to a desalination facility.”

The absolute majority of electricity in the enclave comes from solar energy or power generators using fuel. IDF sources told Walla that most Gazans use solar panels for their electricity, severely limiting energy supply at night.

Generators are mostly used by hospitals, international aid organizations, and administrative centers, as well as by Hamas.

According to the report, some 25,200 trucks carrying aid including food, water, fuel, medicine and other equipment, entered the Gaza Strip during the past weeks’ ceasefire. The amount of fuel received reportedly totaled around five times the daily consumption of the enclave before the war.

This enabled Hamas to accumulate millions of liters of fuel and large stores of gas, which is mainly used for cooking, in the reserve stores of its combat tunnels, making it possible to keep fighting for around half a year even without any new supplies, military sources estimated.

In addition, the other humanitarian aid will be enough for 45-60 days, according to IDF estimates.

Military officials added that there were no signs whatsoever of any distress or shortages. The first signs of shortages will appear in the sector of tobacco and cigarettes, which is a highly important financial sector in the enclave.

The officials also said the IDF is preparing for a new, well-timed Hamas media campaign to portray “famine” in the Gaza Strip in the near future.

The apparent lack of efficacy of the moves, coupled with the ensuing criticism of Israel, has begun to draw domestic criticism of the government's plan in recent days.

"This is an Israeli leadership pretending to be squeezing Hamas. Nothing more," commented Haviv Rettig Gur, senior analyst at The Times of Israel.

"But it does showcase the startling fact that a Gazan leadership bent on Israel’s destruction and whose basic strategy for destroying Israel passes through the carefully engineered destruction of Gaza never bothered to wean Gaza off Israeli electricity, never switched its currency away from the Israeli shekel, never explained to Gazans how Gaza might ever find prosperity while locked into perpetual war with Israel," he wrote on 𝕏.