Israel says no electricity, water or fuel for Gaza until hostages freed

Israel has said the siege of Gaza will not end until the Israeli hostages are released. An estimated 150 hostages were taken into Gaza during Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel at the weekend. 

So far around 1,200 Israelis have been killed. A similar number of people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli airstrikes. 

More than 338,000 people have been displaced in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory strikes. 

“No electrical switch will be turned on, no water hydrant will be opened and no fuel truck will enter,” Israel’s energy minister Israel Katz has said. 

On Wednesday, the only power station in Gaza ran out of fuel, meaning the territory – including hospitals – is now relying on generators, which could run out of fuel today. 

The Israeli military says its air strikes are targeting Hamas’s huge network of tunnels. However many civilians are being killed and getting out of Gaza is all but impossible.