Gaza to Run Out of Fuel for Electricity Generators on Sunday, Israeli Official Says

An Israeli official said that the water supply in Gaza has also been affected by the power cuts, with local residents getting tap water only intermittently.

The Gaza Strip now has only one-third of what it used to have in terms of electric power, an anonymous Israeli defence official told journalists.

According to an official cited by The Times of Israel, Gaza will run out of fuel for its electricity generators by Sunday.

This is partially due to Israel’s closure of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, through which Gaza receives most of its fuel.

Another anonymous security official told the outlet that “Hamas rockets damaged power lines on the Israeli side [leading to Gaza]”.

The largest confrontation in recent years at the Gaza border began on Monday evening. Palestinian militants have since launched over 1,800 rockets from Gaza toward Israel, leaving six Israeli civilians and one serviceman dead. Israel has fired retaliatory strikes against Gaza. The enclave's health ministry put the death toll among Palestinians at 115.

The violence was sparked by multiple days of clashes in East Jerusalem and an Israeli court's decision to side with Jewish settlers requesting the eviction of several Palestinian families from their homes in the disputed city.

On late Thursday, the Israeli Defence Forces said that its air and ground units were attacking the Gaza Strip, following several days of intensive rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. However, later the IDF clarified that there are no Israeli soldiers in Gaza now, but they had launched attacks on multiple targets inside the Palestinian enclave. IDF Spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said that the information about a ground operation reflected an internal misunderstanding, and he took personal responsibility for it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip would continue as long as necessary.