RIYADH: Saudi Arabia led other Arab nations Qatar and Jordan in condemning Israel’s decision to cut electricity supply to the war-battered Gaza Strip, calling in separate statements for the international community to take action.
Israel announced on Sunday it was disconnecting the only power line to a water desalination plant in Gaza, in an effort to pressure Palestinian militant group Hamas into releasing hostages amid an apparent impasse in truce talks.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry expressed “condemnation in the strongest terms of the Israeli occupation authorities’ use of collective punishment against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by cutting off electricity to the area.”
It reiterated its call on the international community to take urgent measures to restore electricity and the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip immediately without conditions or restrictions.
The Kingdom “renewed its call to activate international accountability mechanisms for these serious violations,” the statement concluded.
A Qatari foreign ministry statement said the Gulf state “strongly condemns the Israeli occupation’s act of cutting electricity to the Gaza Strip, considering it a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah called the electricity cut “a clear continuation of the policy of starvation and siege imposed by Israel,” about a week after Israeli authorities blocked the entry of aid into Gaza.
The United Nations has warned of “dire consequences” for Gaza’s population, while Britain said it was “deeply concerned” by the Israeli move.
Saudi Arabia called on the international community to “take urgent actions immediately,” while Qatar also urged “immediate action to provide the necessary protection for the Palestinian people.”
Jordan’s Qudah called on the world “to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, and oblige Israel to continue with the ceasefire agreement... restore electricity to Gaza” and reopen border crossings for aid deliveries.
Egypt called Israel’s decision a “new violation of international humanitarian law” on Tuesday.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said the move was part of Israel’s “policies of collective punishment.”
Cairo called on the international community to “take the necessary measures to stop these violations.”
Israeli negotiators were expected to hold talks with mediators in Qatar, part of efforts to extend a fragile truce since January that has largely halted the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
