Israel’s intelligence minister warned Tuesday that power to the Gaza Strip could soon be cut off — as the country’s military geared up for an “intensive night” of additional airstrikes against the region’s terror tunnels.
Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen told Israel’s Channel 20 that he favored shutting down electricity to Gaza as the worst conflict in years stretched into its ninth day.
“I think the next thing we should do – and I’ll raise this in the Cabinet – is to shut off electricity in Gaza,” he said in Hebrew, according to a video clip posted on Twitter.
Cohen added, “There was no discussion about a cease-fire in the Cabinet.”
“The international pressure is increasing but we owe it to our citizens,” he said.
On Sunday, the Guardian reported that the power supply to Gaza had already been cut by more than half after six of 10 power lines were destroyed by Israeli strikes.
“There are some border areas completely cut off from electricity,” Mohammed Thabet, a spokesperson for the Gaza Electricity Distribution Co., told the British news outlet.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said it had an “intensive night ahead of us” Tuesday amid planning for aerial attacks on “new locations” of Gaza’s sprawling tunnel network, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Spokesperson Hidai Zilberman said the bombardment would two target sections of tunnels that weren’t hit during four previous nights of air assaults.
Israel has accused the Hamas terror group of using the tunnels to move munitions and launch attacks against the Jewish state.
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