JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel cut by half the amount of fuel it ships to the Gaza Strip in response to recent rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The move was ordered Monday morning by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as the country’s defense minister.
With the cut, Gaza homes will have fewer hours of electricity available. They now receive about 12 hours of electricity a day. The coastal strip has only one power plant.
A spokesman for Hamas called the fuel cut “collective punishment that violates all international laws,” the Kan public broadcaster reported.
On Sunday night, three rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli territory, the fourth such attack in two weeks. Two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system and a third landed on the side of a highway, sparking a small fire.
In the hours following the attack, the Israel military launched airstrikes on a Hamas military compound in northern Gaza, including on what it said in a statement was the office of a Hamas commander.
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