Israel Threatens Utility Cutoff in Gaza Amid Hostage Crisis and U.S. Negotiations with Iran
Israel has further pressured Hamas to release the remaining 59 hostages in Gaza, with the threat of cutting off water supplies and already cutting the region's electricity feed.
"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,'" Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen declared.
Meanwhile, the US has been engaging in direct conversations with Hamas to secure the release of the last remaining American hostage. Israeli leaders, however, have expressed concern over such discussions, CBN News reports.
"I think I was able to put him at ease that I wasn't going to go off the rails, that it would be parameters that we would work on together," US negotiator Adam Boehler said regarding a conversation he had with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
In other news, Iran is refusing to negotiate with the US on slowing its nuclear program.
"Some bullying governments insist on negotiations. Their negotiation is not aimed at resolving issues. They negotiate to dictate their will," Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, alluding to the Trump administration.
In a letter to Khameini, President Donald Trump said he sought to reach a deal with Iran rather than engage in military conflict.
"I've written them a letter saying I hope you're going to negotiate," Trump explained. "Because if we have to go in militarily, it's going to be a terrible thing for them... You can't let them have a nuclear weapon."
Concurrently, the new Islamist government in Syria is accused of massacring over 1,000 Alawite civilians despite claiming that the crackdown was an attempt to quell a rising rebellion by supporters of the deposed Assad regime.
"We will not tolerate the remnants of Assad who have committed crimes against our army forces and state institutions, attacked hospitals, killed innocent civilians, and spread chaos in safe areas. These individuals have only one option: to surrender themselves to the law immediately," Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced.
Charmaine Hedding, founder of the Shai Fund, who has been helping refugees and persecuted Christians in the Middle East for years, said that the death toll from the Sunni attacks is higher than what is being reported by the media.
"This is a Sunni revenge of Julani, the current self-made president of Syria, and his groups of jihadist terrorists, basically, that make up his government that has been on an absolute rampage and a killing spree across the coastal plains of that Syria," Hedding said.
"We're hearing reports of 2,000 to 3,000, and it's increasing every couple of hours. And we're seeing images and speaking to people on the ground that are just saying the bodies are piled up in the streets," Hedding added.
In a statement by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said that the US "stands with ethnic minorities, including Christian, Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish communities." He denounced the "radical Islamic terrorists" who killed civilians in recent days.
Meanwhile, Israel has offered assistance to the Druze community in northwest Syria.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Ahmad Hasaballah / Stringer
Originally published March 10, 2025.
