Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, at the U.N. headquarters. Israeli officials made clear Thursday they won’t let up their economic chokehold on the Gaza Strip as long as the country’s citizens continue to be held by Hamas kidnappers.
As its retaliation campaign mounts, Israel has cut off power or critical supplies into the densely populated Palestinian enclave after the attacks that left more than 1,200 Israeli citizens dead. Gaza neighborhoods have been targeted in a massive Israeli bombing campaign as well. “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,” Israel Katz, the country’s energy minister, said Thursday on social media. “Humanitarian for humanitarian — and no one will preach us morals.”