JERUSALEM: Israel said on Monday it was cutting by half the amount of fuel it supplies to Gaza’s only power plant, in response to rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory.
Three rockets were fired from the Hamas Islamist-run enclave at southern Israel on Sunday and two were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, the military said. There was no claim of responsibility.
After the attack, Israel launched an air strike against what the military described as a Hamas military compound. No casualties were reported on either side of the volatile border.
In a statement, COGAT, a unit in the Defense Ministry that coordinates civilian issues with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said “cutting the amount of diesel in half will significantly reduce” the plant’s output.
It said the measure, “following the firing of rockets ... and the continued violation of stability and security” will be in effect until further notice.
Gaza has long suffered from a shortage of electricity and chronic blackouts. A new power line from Israel has been proposed to alleviate the situation.
Mohammad Thabet, spokesman for the Gaza power company, described the Israeli decision as collective punishment.
“We already are in a crisis and now the Israeli decision will make it worse. It will have a grave impact on the lives of 2 million people and on vital services such as hospitals,” Thabet told Reuters.
Currently residents get six hours of electricity followed by 12 hours of blackout. Thabet said the fuel cuts would decrease power time to only four-hour periods.
In a series of border confrontations in recent weeks, Israel said it killed at least eight Palestinian militants who tried to infiltrate its territory.
Israeli and Egyptian blockades have brought the Gazan economy to the brink of collapse. Recent foreign aid cuts and sanctions by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’s rival in the West Bank, have worsened the situation.
Israel reduces Gaza fuel supply after rocket attack
Israel reduces Gaza fuel supply after rocket attack
- Israel imposes cut after rocket attacks from Gaza
- Palestinian enclave suffers chronic blackouts
Iran says can fight intense war for months
- Iran’s security chief accuses Trump administration of seeking to replicate a scenario similar to Venezuela
- Analysts warn there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that could last a month or longer
TEHRAN: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the country’s forces could fight an intense war for six months against the United States and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on with the war against Iran “with all our force,” with a plan to eradicate the country’s leadership after joint US-Israeli raids killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week, sparking the regional conflict.
Despite the threat, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that the Islamic republic’s forces could wage an “intense war” for six months at the current speed of fighting.
Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini said Iran had so far used “first and second generation” missiles, but will use “advanced and less-used long-range missiles” in the coming days.
‘Trapped’
The widening reach of the war and Iran’s ability to inflict damage and harm were underscored by US President Donald Trump attending the return of six American service members killed in a drone strike on a US base in Kuwait last Sunday.
Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani accused the Trump administration of seeking to replicate a scenario similar to Venezuela where it ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
“Their perception was that it would be like Venezuela — they would strike, take control and it would be over — but now they are trapped,” he said in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on state TV on Saturday.
Iran’s hardline judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei also warned Middle East neighbors which are “openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy” that “the heavy attacks on these targets will continue.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that Tehran “will be forced to respond” if a neighboring country were to be used as a launchpad for any attack or invasion attempt.
Tehran had vowed to go after US assets in the region, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait on Sunday all reported new attacks.
No clear way out
Analysts warn there is still no clear path to ending a conflict that US and Israeli officials say could last a month or longer.
Trump has suggested Iran’s economy could be rebuilt if a leader “acceptable” to Washington replaces the late supreme leader, which Tehran has rejected.
China and Russia have largely stayed on the sidelines despite close ties with Tehran.
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on Sunday that the war in the Middle East should “never have happened.”
“This is a war that should never have happened,” he told a press conference in Beijing, adding that “a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”
