Blockade: No Power or Water for Gaza Until All Hostages Released Says Israel

Gaza should not expect to see the water or electricity turned back on while it still holds hostages captured during the massive and deadly terror attack on Israel on Saturday, that country’s government has warned.

Humanitarian aid will be forthcoming to Gaza when it shows concern for human welfare itself Israel’s energy minister Israel Katz said on Thursday when he wrote “Humanitarian aid to Gaza?… Humanitarian for humanitarian”. Addressing the tens of dozens of abductees believed held by the terrorist group Hamas, the politician said Israel would continue the state of siege until it had its people home.

Meaning this meant a continued blockade on supplies to Hamas-ruled Gaza, Katz outlined: “No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home.”

The latest reckonings state some 150 people were abducted from Israel by terrorist fighters on Saturday, part of a major and wide-ranging attack which saw thousands of rockets rain down on southern Israel and terrorist groups raid kibbutzes and music festivals. The known death toll of Israeli residents has passed 1,300 people, many of whom are now reported to have been killed in the most brutal and savage ways possible.

Many of those impacted by the attack are from the international community, foreign citizens living or visiting Israel, with 17 nations worldwide thought to have been hit.

Israel’s efforts to get its hostages back have been criticised by some, including a “group of independent United Nations experts” who have said cutting off supplies to Gaza amounts to “collective punishment” which they say indiscriminately targets civilians. The group says, Reuters reports, this constitutes a war crime. The group also called on Hamas to immediately release the civilian hostages and deplored the group’s “horrific” attack.

Israel is reportedly receiving some assistance in retrieving hostages from the United States, although in what form that comes beyond “advise and assist” is not yet clear.

2,400 U.S. Marines of the 26th Expeditionary Unit have been withdrawn from exercises in Kuwait and are on standby to engage with “emerging events” if required, but whether this means Israel has not been confirmed.