Gaza City, Gaza - Israel ordered an immediate halt to Gaza's electricity supply Sunday, inflicting yet more devastation on Palestinians through its latest violation of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Israel's decision comes a week after it blocked all aid supplies to a territory it has already devastated, a move reminiscent of the initial days of the war when Israel announced a siege on Gaza.

Hamas described the electricity cut as "blackmail," a term it had also used after Israel blocked the aid.

The ceasefire deal's initial phase ended on March 1. Since then, Israel has refused to proceed to the next agreed-upon phase, insisting on an extension to the first stage while resuming its brutal attacks on Gaza.

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"I have just signed the order to stop supplying electricity immediately to the Gaza Strip," Energy Minister Eli Cohen said in a video statement.

"We will use all the tools at our disposal to bring back the hostages and ensure that Hamas is no longer in Gaza the day after" the war, he said.

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, described Israel's move as "a desperate attempt to pressure our people and their resistance through cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactics."

The sole power line between Israel and Gaza supplies the main desalination plant, and Gazans mainly rely now on solar panels and fuel-powered generators to produce electricity.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been reduced to living in tents by Israel's attacks, with nighttime temperatures now forecast around 54 Fahrenheit.

Hamas representatives met Egyptian mediators over the weekend, emphasizing the urgent need to resume aid deliveries "without restrictions or conditions," a Hamas statement said.

"We call on mediators in Egypt and Qatar, as well as the guarantors in the US administration, to ensure that the (Israeli) occupation complies with the agreement... and proceeds with the second phase according to the agreed-upon terms," spokesperson Hazem Qassem told AFP.

Hamas's key demands for the second phase include a hostage-prisoner exchange, Israel's complete withdrawal from Gaza, a permanent ceasefire, border crossings reopening and lifting the blockade, he said.

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After meeting mediators, another Hamas spokesperson, Abdel Latif al-Qanoua, said indicators were so far "positive," which echoed remarks made by Trump administration envoy Adam Boehler following direct talks with the Palestinian group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it would send delegates to Doha on Monday.

The truce largely halted more than 15 months of bloody assaults on Gaza, where virtually the entire population was violently displaced by Israel.

The six-week first phase led to the exchange of 25 living Israeli hostages and eight bodies for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian captives held in Israel.

It also allowed in much-needed food, shelter, and medical assistance.

After Israel cut off the aid flow, UN rights experts accused it of "weaponizing starvation" – a war crime and crime against humanity.