Israel reconnects Gaza with electricity for water desalination and sewage plant

Gaza’s Electric Company workers repairing electric infrastructure, on 2 July 2024

Jack Khoury, Yaniv Kubovich and Jonathan Lis report in Haaretz on 2 July 2024:

The electric company in Gaza started repairing electric wires that were damaged during the war on Tuesday morning, and connecting them to the Israeli electric grid to renew operation of a water desalination and sewage plant west of Deir al-Balah.

Israeli security officials said the operation was carried out as a humanitarian effort to prevent disease outbreaks and contamination in Gaza that may endanger IDF forces in the Strip and Israeli residents.

According to the officials, the operation was authorized and executed in line with the policy of expanding humanitarian measures in Gaza, in light of South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which charges Israel with war crimes and genocide.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich slammed the decision to connect the electric infrastructure in Gaza and wrote: “We completely lost our minds. We are rehabilitating Gaza with our own hands before its demilitarization.”  Smotrich addressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Stop this folly. This time, nobody will be able to claim ignorance, unlike in the case of the release of the director of the terror command center in Al-Shifa, yesterday.”

MK Gideon Sa’ar, chair of the New Hope-The United Right party, wrote: “it’s interesting to see who the responsibility will be rolled on to this time … a government with two left hands.”

Opposition lawmaker Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu said, “the decision that must be made today is a complete separation between Israel and the Gaza Strip. No electricity, no water, no fuel and no goods, complete disconnection.”

The criticism over the move comes after the embarrassment at the political rank on Monday due to the release from prison of Al-Shifa Hospital’s director, which led to a public accusation exchange by the prime minister, his ministers, the prison authority and Shin Bet security services regarding responsibility for the move. The government is now acting to stop similar events from happening.

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