'Genocide Alert!' Israel Slammed for Cutting Off Power to Gaza Water Plant

Outrage over the Israeli government's decision to cut off electricity to a water treatment plant in the decimated Gaza Strip mounted on Monday.

As Common Dreams reported Sunday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that he "signed an order for the immediate halt of electricity to the Gaza Strip" as part of a policy to use "all of the tools that are at our disposal to ensure the return of all the hostages" taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The Times of Israel noted that the new move by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government "was mainly expected to affect a single desalination plant, the only facility in the strip still running on a power line supplied from Israel."

Responding on social media Monday, the Peace & Justice Project—founded by Jeremy Corbyn, an Independent member of the U.K. Parliament—condemned the cutoff as Israel's "latest act of genocidal collective punishment against the Palestinian people."

"This latest despicable act must be condemned by all governments and Israel must be sanctioned," the group added.

Also speaking out on social media, Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, declared, "GENOCIDE ALERT!"

"Israel cutting off electricity supplies to Gaza means, among others, no functioning desalination stations, ergo: no clean water," Albanese said. "STILL NO SANCTION/NO ARMS EMBARGO against Israel means, among others, AIDING AND ASSISTING Israel in the commission of one of the most preventable genocides of our history."

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas' political bureau, called the move "a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics," according to The Times of Israel.

He tied the decision to Israel halting all humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave last week, saying that "we strongly condemn the occupation's decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine, and water."

Clean water has been a key issue in Gaza since October 2023. Oxfam said last July that Israel had systematically reduced the water available by 94%, with just 4.74 liters per resident obtainable each day—less than a third of the recommended minimum amount in emergencies.

A Human Rights Watch report from December accuses Israel of "extermination and acts of genocide" in Gaza "by intentionally depriving Palestinian civilians there of adequate access to water, most likely resulting in thousands of deaths."

Netanyahu said that last week's block on aid was done "in full coordination" with U.S. President Donald Trump, who proposed an American takeover of Gaza—a plan that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday "is taking shape."

Israel and Hamas reached a fragile three-part cease-fire and hostage-release deal in January. Stage one expired on March 1, and negotiators have not yet agreed to terms for the second phase, but talks are being held in Qatar this week.

"Food cut off, almost all electricity cut off, with the remaining energy now cut off too, in order to cut off water supply. This is a 'cease-fire' Israel-style," said Nick Dearden, director of the U.K.-based group Global Justice Now. "Barbaric collective punishment. Stop all weapons, suspend trade deals, economic sanctions now."

University of Michigan professor Juan Cole wrote Monday on his website, Informed Comment, that "the Israeli government is cutting Palestinian civilians in Gaza off from staples as a means of pressuring Hamas to release all Israeli hostages with no quid pro quo so that Netanyahu can start bombing again."

"This collective punishment of civilians violates the Geneva Convention[s] and other elements of internationally agreed on laws of war to which Israel is signatory," noted Cole. "It also violates the preliminary injunction of the International Court of Justice, in which Israel also has membership."

Israel faces an ongoing genocide case at the Hague-based court over its deadly blockade and assault of Gaza—assisted by billions of dollars in U.S. weapons. Like his predecessor, Trump's administration is working to send even more arms to Israel.

"Cutting off humanitarian aid to millions of civilians is a war crime. That is exactly what the extremist Netanyahu government is doing now to Palestinians in Gaza," U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday. "I've introduced resolutions to block billions in offensive arms sales to Israel and will demand votes on these bills."

This article has been updated with comment from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).