Israel says it will reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian Authority said it would limit how much it paid for power to the Palestinian territory run by rival Hamas.
The decision by Israel's security cabinet is expected to shorten by another 45 minutes the daily average of four hours of power Gaza's two million residents receive.
The power comes from an electricity grid dependent on Israeli supplies.
Israel has agreed to a request from Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to reduce electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Authority says it is only prepared to pay for 70 per cent of the monthly cost, and Israel will not make up the shortfall.
Analysts suggest the move is an attempt to force rival Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says a humanitarian crisis is looming.
(Arabic, then translated:) "This decision is a dangerous decision, and its consequences are dangerous for the lives of 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza. It will affect all aspects of life, the humanitarian, social and the environment and the health aspects. The situation in Gaza is very hard. This unfair decision by the Knesset, which is subject to international laws, will worsen the situation in Gaza quickly."
The West Bank-based Palestinian Authority blames the reduction on a failure by Hamas to reimburse it for electricity.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Tareq Rashmawi says it is in the best interests of Gazans for Hamas to relinquish control of services such as the power supply.
(Translated over Arabic:) "We at the government of national reconciliation renew our call to the Hamas movement, the authority there, to hand over to us all the government institutions in Gaza so the government can provide its best, which aligns with our families and people and their sacrifices in our beloved Strip."
Israel charges the Palestinian Authority 40 million shekels, or $14 million Australian, per month for electricity.
It deducts that from the transfers of Palestinian tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Authority.
Israel does not engage with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group.
Israeli security-cabinet ministers have decided Israel will not make up the shortfall.
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman says Israel is not at blame for the cut in Gaza's power supply.
(Hebrew, then translated:) "I think it's the first time that there is awareness among Gaza's population that the recent crisis has no connection with Israel. It is connected to a conflict between Fatah and Hamas." (Hebrew ...)
Israeli military and security chiefs have backed the move, despite concern Hamas could respond by increasing hostilities with Israel.
Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement in 2007, and several attempts at reconciliation -- most recently, in 2014 -- have failed.
The United Nations has previously warned Palestinians in Gaza would face a humanitarian crisis if the electricity supply were cut any further due to political infighting.
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