As part of its pressure campaign to convince Hamas to release all of the remaining hostages, Israel has cut off the electricity it had been supplying to Gaza. The most amazing part of this story is not the cutting off of electricity to Hamas-run Gaza, but the fact that Israel has been willing to continue to supply electricity during the past 16 months of war to those who make no secret of their determination to destroy the Jewish state and its people. Can you imagine the Americans supplying electricity to Nazi Germany in the middle of World War II? Or shipping coal to keep the cities of Imperial Japan well supplied? Now that Israel has cut off that electricity, the Western media have had a field day decrying this act of “wanton cruelty” that will lead to supposed “catastrophe” for the people in Gaza. In fact, the real story is far more complicated. You can get the details here: “Gaza’s Energy Problem: They Want To Keep Tortured Israeli Hostages More Than Helping Rebuild Their Society,” by Lena Gaber, Algemeiner, March 13, 2025:
Israel’s Energy Minister, Eli Cohen, has announced the halt of Israel’s energy supply to Gaza. According to major Western media outlets — including The Guardian, BBC, ABC News, and others — this decision was supposed to lead to an apocalypse, if not immediately, then very soon.
Here’s what Reuters reported:
Then there’s CNN’s coverage:
“There is already water scarcity, and the position of the Israeli government will intensify this crisis in Gaza Strip,” the mayor of Gaza municipality Asem Al Nabih told CNN Monday. “Cutting off the electricity (to) Gaza will increase the need for water, especially drinking water.”
“The decision will still have a severe impact on desalination efforts in the enclave,” according to the mayor of the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, Nizar Ayyash. “In addition to our severed supply line, there will be a 70% reduction in the amount of desalinated water suitable for drinking in the central region and the south,” Ayyash explained.
Or this one in The Guardian:
Hamas accused Israel of “cheap and unacceptable blackmail” over its decision. “We strongly condemn the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza, after depriving it of food, medicine and water,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement, adding it was “a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics”.
Hamas’ concerns are understandable. After all, for years it’s been the terror group’s exclusive right to deprive Gazans of food, medicine and water.
For anyone with a basic understanding of the situation in Gaza, it’s clear that this depiction is a big stretch from the reality.
Israel cut most of its energy supply to Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack. Since then, Gazans have primarily relied on private generators and solar panels. The minister’s latest decision mainly affects the Deir al-Balah desalination plant, which serves more than 600,000 Gaza residents through tankers or the water networks of the Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis governorates. The plant was reconnected to Israel’s electricity grid in December 2024 — an event that attracted almost no media attention. Since then, it has produced approximately 16,000 cubic meters of water per day, according to UNICEF.
Simple arithmetic shows that, assuming that the plant works on full capacity, the halt in Deir al-Balah’s operations accounts for approximately 30% of the clean water supply for Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, while CNN and others used the information from Hamas-appointed officials to report a 70% reduction. Also, the media didn’t emphasize enough or failed to mention completely that this cut would affect only a part of Gaza’s population, equating to about an 8.6% reduction in the total clean water supply for all of Gaza.
Thus, while Eli Cohen’s decision does contribute to the existing water shortage, it is far from the catastrophic, total freeze of electricity that media reports suggest.
How Has Western Media Turned This Into an Imminent Apocalypse?
The answer: unprofessional journalism that fails to exercise basic due diligence. Instead of relying on publicly available data, these reports take at face value the statements of Hamas-appointed officials.
Behind the seemingly neutral titles of “the mayor of the central Gaza city” or “municipality spokesperson” are individuals directly appointed by Hamas. Gaza has been under totalitarian Hamas rule for years, making it virtually impossible for officials not to toe the party line. Asem Al Nabih was appointed by Hamas in 2019, and Nizar Ayyash was appointed in 2024.
Eli Cohen’s decision may well be aimed at his domestic political constituency. However, the Western media are far too eager to frame Israel as committing crimes against humanity, war crimes, and sheer immorality — portraying this decision as if Israel had abruptly stripped all Gazans of electricity overnight.
Eli Cohen wanted to show his domestic audience that he could be tough on Hamas, but the international media portrayed his act as being far more devastating than it was. It was described by the anti-Israel brigade of reporters and columnists as a “war crime” and “crime against humanity.” It was presented as if Israel had cut of all electricity to Gaza, and all of its clean water, too, at one fell swoop. No, that never happened. Gaza has lost a mere 8.6% of its clean water supply, the result of the cutoff in electricity that Israel had supplied to run Gaza’s main desalination plant.
Meanwhile, consider recent Turkish airstrikes in November 2024 in drought-struck northeast Syria. These strikes cut off access to electricity and water for more than a million people, mostly Kurds. A year earlier, attacks on electricity infrastructure in October 2023 shut down the region’s main water station, Alouk, and it has not been operational since. There is an ongoing conflict between Turks and Kurds, yet Turkey has not suffered an attack from the Kurds equivalent to Hamas’ October 7 massacre.
Despite this, no prolonged international outrage comparable to the case of Gaza followed, no humanitarian organizations launched urgent campaigns, and the International Criminal Court did not issue an arrest warrant for Turkey’s President Erdoğan. BBC, for example, merely noted that “experts say it may be a violation of international law.”…
Compare the mild response internationally to Turkey’s cutting off both electricity and water to more than a million Kurds in northeastern Syria, to the hysteria over the Israeli-caused “apocalypse.” Unlike Hamas that wants to destroy Israel, as the atrocities committed by its operatives on October 7, 2023 demonstrated, the Kurds in Syria posed no such threat to Turkey; the Turks had far less justification for cutting off electricity and water than the Israelis did for cutting off electricity to Gaza. But there was no international outrage aimed at Turkey for its blocking of electricity and water, no campaigns to denounce Turkey and force it to reinstate the water and electricity deliveries to the Kurds, no calls at the ICC to arrest President Erdogan. The BBC, which has been sending out emotionally charged reports on the supposed effect of Israel’s cutoff of electricity, said almost nothing about Erdogan’s unprovoked airstrikes on electricity infrastructure in both November 2022, and in October 2023, laconically noting “that the experts say it may be a violation of international law.”
All Hamas has to do in order for Israel to immediately reinstate its delivery of electricity is to release the hostages, both living and dead. But it cares nothing for the wellbeing of the ordinary people in Gaza. That’s why it steals so much of the humanitarian aid that enters the Strip, and gives it to its own members and their extended families. Hamas would rather hold onto those hostages than give them up in order to restore the electricity Israel has just halted.
This cut in the electricity that Israel had been supplying Gaza will reduce the use of the Strip’s desalination plant, but that affects only 8.6% of the total water supply that Gazans have been receiving. from their own solar-powered generators. That loss of less than 10% of its water supply hardly amounts to an “apocalypse” as anti-Israel members of the media, the NGOs, and the UN, maintain. Why is it so hard for them to tell the truth?
Rarely says
“And besides it cuts off the electric lighting in the tunnels we’re digging. Its so inhumane”. I hear them cry.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Oh the humanity 😈
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Oh the humanity 😈
gravenimage says
Yep.
Rarely says
“And besides it cuts off the electric lighting in the tunnels we’re digging. Its so inhumane”. I hear them cry.
gravenimage says
+1
somehistory says
mozlums complain and whine when anyone outwits or out -maneuvers them. They believe it’s unfair if any victim of their terror doesn’t just roll over and croak.
If hamas controlled the power to Israel, it would have been cut years and years ago. And they would have lied and said anything to be awarded victim status. As it is, they have had it too good for too long.
OLD GUY says
How very true. Israel has been more than patient with the people of Gaza and their support for Hamas and the destruction of Israel. The only mistake I see is Israel should have blown up the transmission lines and blamed it on Hamas.
Wellington says
In a very specific way, the Western media as a whole is worse than Hamas because it has more power to do ill over a longer period of time with a greater percentage of the human population. What a damn shame the Western media is not more competent, honest and informed.
But it isn’t. And this serves as one of the great tragedies of our time.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I believe that the media is headed for the same fate as computer software. In software, in the 80s & 90s, companies used to write proprietary software and sell them for a good price per copy – it’s especially how Microsoft got rich. Then came the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) movement, where organizations, and even companies wrote software, published it on platforms like Github and anyone can download packages (maybe for a price, if needed), and even fork a project that they’d need to tweak or even change wholesale
Similarly, in media, we’re no longer restricted to the likes of CNN, Fox, MSNBC,…. Since a lot of people have “cut the cord” ie discontinued their cable or satellite subscriptions and are now just watching their things on the internet, a lot of smaller alternatives have emerged – BlazeTV, Salem News Network (which includes brands like RSBN, Townhall, RedState, PJ Media (where Robert and Daniel both contribute), Twitchy and a few others). Breitbart, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Daily Signal, 2Way and a whole bunch of others. In fact, you see that in the White House briefing room, where Karoline Leavitt has been adding them to the list of people who get to be there. She’s by no means compelled to accommodate the likes of AP, CNN, MSNBC, et al. In fact, if Fox & Newsmax wanna be jackasses by showing solidarity w/ AP, they can take the door as well. As it is, a lot of people now get their news from @X, rather than anywhere else, and are better off asking @grok
Also, a lot of people we used to watch on traditional media, after they left, now have their own channels on YouTube and Rumble – from people like Dave Rubin, Victor Davis Hanson, Barry Nussbaum, Megyn Kelly and a whole lot of others. We’re no longer stuck w/ the old guard news agencies, and I don’t think they”ll be around for too much longer. Already, Jeff Bezos has sent the signal to WaPo that their editorial page has to stand for free markets and individual liberty, and is reorganizing the newsroom. There have been massive bloodletting in all these major news organizations, and even their prized people are finally getting shown the door
Similarly, on these stories, using the same above paradigm, it’s easy to directly watch Israeli news outlets like JNS to find out what is really happening. Or if one is an antisemite, one can just as easily watch al Jazeera. In fact, I no longer rely on US journalists for any foreign news, be it about Russia, Britain, Israel,…. when I can directly find in English news sources based in any of these countries
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
An excellent – and accurate – post.
Until about 10 years ago, I was getting the majority of my news from the mainstream legacy media – with the exception of Fox News.
Interestingly, the change came when I started to research Jihad Watch.
Now, I’ve learned that the only way to find the truth is to access reputable, conservative websites / videos – many of which you have listed.
James Lincoln says
Infidel,
An excellent – and accurate – post.
Until about 10 years ago, I was getting the majority of my news from the mainstream legacy media – with the exception of Fox News.
Interestingly, the change came when I started to research Jihad Watch.
Now, I’ve learned that the only way to find the truth is to access reputable, conservative websites / videos – many of which you have listed.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I believe that the media is headed for the same fate as computer software. In software, in the 80s & 90s, companies used to write proprietary software and sell them for a good price per copy – it’s especially how Microsoft got rich. Then came the Free Open Source Software (FOSS) movement, where organizations, and even companies wrote software, published it on platforms like Github and anyone can download packages (maybe for a price, if needed), and even fork a project that they’d need to tweak or even change wholesale
Similarly, in media, we’re no longer restricted to the likes of CNN, Fox, MSNBC,…. Since a lot of people have “cut the cord” ie discontinued their cable or satellite subscriptions and are now just watching their things on the internet, a lot of smaller alternatives have emerged – BlazeTV, Salem News Network (which includes brands like RSBN, Townhall, RedState, PJ Media (where Robert and Daniel both contribute), Twitchy and a few others). Breitbart, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, Daily Signal, 2Way and a whole bunch of others. In fact, you see that in the White House briefing room, where Karoline Leavitt has been adding them to the list of people who get to be there. She’s by no means compelled to accommodate the likes of AP, CNN, MSNBC, et al. In fact, if Fox & Newsmax wanna be jackasses by showing solidarity w/ AP, they can take the door as well. As it is, a lot of people now get their news from @X, rather than anywhere else, and are better off asking @grok
Also, a lot of people we used to watch on traditional media, after they left, now have their own channels on YouTube and Rumble – from people like Dave Rubin, Victor Davis Hanson, Barry Nussbaum, Megyn Kelly and a whole lot of others. We’re no longer stuck w/ the old guard news agencies, and I don’t think they”ll be around for too much longer. Already, Jeff Bezos has sent the signal to WaPo that their editorial page has to stand for free markets and individual liberty, and is reorganizing the newsroom. There have been massive bloodletting in all these major news organizations, and even their prized people are finally getting shown the door
Similarly, on these stories, using the same above paradigm, it’s easy to directly watch Israeli news outlets like JNS to find out what is really happening. Or if one is an antisemite, one can just as easily watch al Jazeera. In fact, I no longer rely on US journalists for any foreign news, be it about Russia, Britain, Israel,…. when I can directly find in English news sources based in any of these countries
Rob Porter says
To hell with the Western media! Devoid of morals and, consequently, consistent decency it has degenerated into plain stupidity, perversity and lack of logic. Anything it reports should be viewed with skepticism.
If it were honest, logical, intelligent and fair-minded it would marvel that Israel has provided any electricity to vile Muslim savages, let alone continued after the October 7.Muslim barbarism, I consider it bewildering.
Peter WF says
Video of “Gaza that you never saw before. Filmed it just before Oct 7th (2023). Watch out for the documentary film.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1icBL6lLOcM
Then go have a look at how much they export. All supported by western national debt.
abu taleb says
Probably Hamas never pays for the elctricity and water supplied by Israel too.
gravenimage says
abu Taleb, this *is* true. The Palestinian Authority had an agreement with Israel for water and electricity, and they did apparently pay for it (payments were pretty spotty, but hey, it was something…).
But once Hamas took over, they said they had made no such agreement, and would pay Israel *nothing*. So instead of pulling the plug, Israel has been providing free services to Gaza since 2007 or so. (To give you an idea, this is pretty much as though the US were providing free water and energy to the UK).
Claudio says
Why is it so hard for them to tell the truth?
I think ,we all know the answer to that question !
Lenny Leaps In says
In what war does one side have provide food, medical supplies, power etc to the opposing warring side?
Hamas – release all hostages now!!
gravenimage says
Spot on, Lenny!
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Thankfully, the ceasefire has now been ended
gravenimage says
Israel Cuts Off Electricity to Gaza, Which Western Media Claim ‘Will Lead to an Apocalypse’
…………………………..
Why is Israel supposed to supply electricy and water *to her enemies*–who are still holding her people hostage? Suicidal madness.