Israel has cut off the electricity supply to Gaza. The move has affected a desalination plant producing drinking water for part of the arid territory.

Israel ordered all of Gaza's electricity supply to be cut off on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing the remaining Israeli hostages held in the territory. Energy minister Eli Cohen's announcement came a week after Israel cut off all aid supplies to the territory, which has a population of more than two million people.

The move, which will mainly affect a single wastewater treatment plant, appeared intended to put pressure on Hamas.

An Israeli delegation will travel to the Gulf state of Qatar on Monday to hold talks on the continuation of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as Israel's electricity minister announced he was cutting deliveries to the enclave.

Israel ordered an immediate halt to the electricity supply in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in an effort to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages, even as it prepared for fresh talks on the future of its truce with the Palestinian militants.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the office would carry out the “massive logistical operation” needed to remove Palestinians from Gaza.

Israel carried out an air strike in northern Gaza on Sunday, rattling an already fragile ceasefire as fresh talks in Doha are set to take place on Monday. Israel's military said the air strike targeted Hamas terrorists who "were identified operating in proximity to IDF troops and attempting to plant an explosive device in the ground in northern Gaza.

Israel halted its already limited supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip, a move the government called a response to the Hamas hostage crisis and which a liaison officer said would suspend production by a desalination plant in the war-wracked enclave.