Gaza's electricity company began connecting cables on Salah al-Din Street in the Deir al-Balah area, for the first time since the outbreak of the war.
After the infrastructure works are completed, the water desalination and sewage treatment facility will be operated directly from the Israeli electricity grid. The order to connect was given by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who explained that it was a move to provide "a response to basic humanitarian needs."
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) noted that the operation of the water desalination facility is being carried out with the approval of the political echelon and derives from humanitarian considerations to prevent pollution and the outbreak of diseases in the Strip.
An official IDF statement on the process claimed: "The eyes of the world, and certainly the eyes of the United States, were focused on the question of how we would handle the humanitarian and civilian aspects of the operation in Rafah. The purpose of the power hookup is to operate a water desalination plant that will provide drinking water to the area where most of the Gaza population now resides. This is water for sanitation and disease prevention - which could endanger both our soldiers and our hostages."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded: "We've lost our minds completely. With our own hands, we are rehabilitating Gaza, before disarmament, and mainly the hospitals, which are the centers for terrorism. Mr. Prime Minister, stop this foolishness. This time, it won't be possible to say that we didn't know, like with the release of the terror commander in Shifa yesterday."
Member of Knesset Gideon Sa'ar responded: "It will be interesting to see on whom the responsibility will be placed this time. A government of fools with two left hands."
MK Avigdor Liberman attacked: "The government of folly. After the release of the senior terrorist, the new Dr. Mengele, the director of Shifa Hospital, the government continues in the same direction."
"The infrastructure work in Gaza ahead of the expected connection to Israeli electricity are an even greater folly," Liberman continued. "The decision that must be made today is a complete disconnection between Israel and the Gaza Strip. No electricity, no water, no fuels, and no goods - a complete disconnection."