Israel's decision to cut power to Gaza did not turn many lights off in the strip, but it has exacerbated the water crisis hitting the territory.
Under the expansion of the Netanyahu government's blockade of Gaza, which was announced on Sunday (local time), electricity would be switched off in a bid to pressure Hamas to adopt a temporary extension of the ceasefire.
It has forced a major water plant to run on generators — slashing water output from 18,000 cubic metres per day to just 2,000 cubic metres, according to the plant's management.
The Southern Gaza desalination plant in Deir al-Balah, which turns seawater into drinking water for 600,000 people, was powered by one line fed by electricity from Israel.
The power line had been repaired by staff from the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company (GEDCO) late last year, after it was "completely destroyed" during the war.
"When the electricity distribution company attempted to repair the 8-kilometre-long power line, essentially aiming to restart the desalination plant, it found the line completely destroyed," GEDCO spokesman Mohammed Thabet told the ABC.
"As a result, the company had to source somewhat functional electrical materials and essentially patch up the damaged infrastructure using whatever was available.
"The process of extending and reconnecting the power network to the desalination plant took nearly four months.
"Eventually, in November 2024, the plant was supplied with electricity from inside Israel."
Mr Thabet said the Israeli decision to switch off electricity sales to Gaza was now jeopardising water supplies in the strip.
"Gaza relies on groundwater wells for water supply," he said.
"However, according to reports from the UN and the World Health Organization, most of Gaza's water is unfit for human consumption.
"Desalination and purification are essential to save lives, particularly for children and women, and to mitigate the extreme pollution levels that have reached record highs."
The United Nations has estimated most Gazans have access to around 3 litres of water a day, well below from the standard expected of 15 litres.
The ABC asked the Israeli government's agency responsible for coordinating aid and services in Gaza, COGAT, a series of questions about the water crisis fuelled by its energy cuts.
COGAT referred the ABC to the prime minister's office, which in turn said it was a matter for the energy ministry.
"We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after’," Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday when he announced power would be cut off.
Children walk for hours to queue for precious water
Each day in Gaza, Palestinians trek through bombed-out streets to line up at water trucks.
Often it is children gathering the water for their families, lugging bottles, buckets and jerry cans for kilometres to fill up.
Mohammad Adel Abdul Rahman Salha, 14, who lived in the Al Yarmouk Stadium refugee camp in Gaza City, said his family only had one jerry can for water.
"Sometimes, when I arrive, I don't even know if the faucet is running or if there is no water," he told the ABC.
"We get exhausted fetching water, waiting in line, arguing about whose turn it is, and then suddenly, the water gets cut off, and we don't know what's happening — the situation is really difficult.
"When the tank is empty, we are told to go home and wait for the next truck."
One of his neighbours, 25-year-old mother of two Iman Awkal, had dug a hole in the ground for some of the water she managed to gather.
"This is where we wash dishes and clean, and we also fetch water from far away," she said.
"This is our life. Hopefully, God will bring relief.
"This is my simple kitchen."
The water available from the trucks is used for drinking, cleaning, washing and for ablutions ahead of prayer.
"Although [the water] comes daily, the number of displaced people is large, so they drain the tanks quickly," camp resident Suhail Naeem said.
Humanitarian agencies have accused the Netanyahu government of war crimes for blocking the supply of aid and vital supplies to Gaza.
"Humanitarian aid is not a bargaining chip for applying pressure on parties, but a fundamental right of civilians experiencing urgent need in challenging and life-threatening circumstances," Oxfam said in a statement.
"These inhumane and unlawful actions are a clear indication that Israel is continuing its policy of deliberately imposing on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction — an act prohibited under the Genocide Convention," Amnesty International's Erika Guevara Rosas said.
Israel has denied the accusations.
It has blamed aid shortages on the inability of the UN to distribute it, and has also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid.
Mr Netanyahu is already subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, accused of using starvation as a weapon of war.
Gaza's demand for power outstripped supply before war
The power crisis in Gaza is not a new phenomenon.
"The Gaza Strip has long suffered from a severe shortage of electricity," Mr Thabet said.
"The demand for power has reached approximately 600 megawatts, while the available supply has never exceeded 220 megawatts."
The situation deteriorated after Hamas launched its deadly attacks on Israel, and Israel launched its bombardment of the strip in response.
"From the very first day of the aggression, on October 7, 2023, all 10 main power lines supplying Gaza, which provided 120 megawatts, were cut off," Mr Thabet said.
"As a result, Gaza lost its primary electricity source, which was supplied by Israel.
"On October 11, just four days later, Gaza's only power plant shut down due to fuel shortages.
"The closure resulted from border crossings being closed, preventing fuel deliveries needed for operation."
GEDCO said the power plant contributed another 70 megawatts to the strip's energy grid, while two more transmission lines from Egypt provided a small amount of power.
The declaration by Israel's energy minister Eli Cohen on Sunday to cut electricity to Gaza, therefore, had little impact other than to the desalination plant, which was still connected to the supply lines.
"The world may interpret this decision as suggesting that Gaza enjoys stable electricity, but this is not the case," Mr Thabet said.
"In reality, it specifically cut off power to the seawater desalination plant, which had been producing 20,000 cubic meters of clean water daily for displaced citizens who desperately needed it."
In January, Gaza's water authority said more than 700 groundwater wells had been destroyed during Israel's bombardment of the strip, further hampering access to water.
Israel's national water company, Mekorot, operates water pipelines into Gaza — but some have been shut down, and others have had flows limited.
Water and sewerage infrastructure had been destroyed during the conflict, fuelling the spread of diseases through the strip.
