Israel is refusing to restore power or allow water and fuel into the Gaza Strip until all of its hostages are freed — as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that every terrorist will soon be “a dead man.”
The firm stance Wednesday came as Israel’s army is expected to launch a ground strike on the region within the coming days in response to the horrific weekend terror attack that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
“Humanitarian aid to Gaza? No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter until the Israeli abductees are returned home,” Israeli Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Israel Katz tweeted early Thursday.
As of Thursday, Hamas had taken around 150 people captive — including women and kids — while threatening to post footage of them being executed.
“Humanitarian for humanitarian,” Katz tweeted in Hebrew, according to the Austin-American Statesman.
“And no one will preach us morals.”
Among those believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas is Sharona Harel, who had been attending a music festival near the Gaza Strip on Saturday, when terrorists paraglided into the area and shot revelers in the street.
The mother of two texted her husband, Yotam, that morning, “They are shooting at us. We are hiding.”
Yotam and his brother, Ohad Harel, then drove about an hour and a half to get to the festival — passing shootings in the streets and rockets firing overhead, Ohad told the Post.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, joined with a top political rival Wednesday to create a wartime Cabinet to oversee the fight — vowing to “crush and destroy” the terrorist organization behind the mass slaughter..
“Every Hamas member is a dead man,” he promised in a televised address.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Opposition leader Benny Gantz said that he was “united” with his rival and ready to “wipe this thing called Hamas off the face of the Earth.”
The refusal to help turn electricity back on came as the United Nations is pressuring Israel to allow humanitarian aid to Gaza, after the government cut off food, fuel and water supplies to the region in retaliation for the terror attack.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
The situation grew worse in Gaza on Wednesday, when the only power plant serving the area ran out of fuel — leaving hospitals to rely on generators they fear may only last another few days.
More than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip are now without power, the head of Gaza’s power authority told CNN, leaving officials in the area unsure how they will be able to care for their residents.
Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities.
With Post wires
