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IDF Major General: Israel may be forced to cut electricity to Gaza

COGAT head Yoav Mordechai said that Israel may have to cut electricity to Gaza because of Hamas’ decision “to use money for digging (terror) tunnels,” and that “the people (in Gaza) get only what is left over.”

Major General of Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Yoav Mordechai said that Israel might be forced to cut electricity to the Gaza Strip, in a BBC interview in Arabic earlier this week.

“Israel will have to cut the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip,” Mordechai said. “The reason is that Hamas prefers to use the money for digging tunnels, and its organization, and the people get only what is left over from that.”

The Major General referred extensively to ongoing payment disputes between the terrorist Hamas regime in control of the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority that rules over Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

“Israel today is the only one supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip,” Mordechai noted. “125 megawatts come from Israel. The Israeli government has decided to increase this by another 100 megawatts, but unfortunately, there are problems between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the PA in Ramallah, which caused the PA to decide not to pay for the electricity.”

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Mordechai warned over a month ago that fuel would run out due to payment shortages. In his interview with the BBC this week, he accused the Hamas leadership of contributing to the power shortage.

“Unfortunately, Hamas takes NIS 100 million ($28 million) a month from residents of the Gaza Strip: from the goods, from the taxes of all the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and this does not reach the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

“If the electricity is going for tunnels and Fathi Hamad, a Hamas leader who has four wives, three homes, and electricity 24 hours a day, and two million Palestinians have electricity for four hours a day, does that make any sense?” he asked. “Those are Hamas’ priorities with the people.”

By: World Israel News Staff