Gaza has lost all mains electricity after the only power station in the Palestinian enclave ran out of fuel and had to shut down, Reuters reported Wednesday evening citing Hamas media sources.
This means people will have to rely on generators - if they have diesel to run them - to power critical infrastructure, even as Israel rains down missiles on the Palestinian territory. It also means there will be no running water or operational elevators, and people won't be able to charge mobile phones.
"The only power plant in the Gaza Strip stopped functioning at 2 PM (4.30 PM IST)," Gaza Energy Authority chief Jalal Ismail said. He had earlier warned the plant was running short of fuel.
An hour later, Gaza went dark.
"It is very difficult - we don't have water... internet... electricity," Kamal Mashharawi, a Gaza resident, told the BBC, "We tried to go to the nearest supermarket but it was unsafe because of explosions."
"I don't think civilians deserve to die - they should be left out of the conflict," he said.
Electricity shut-off in Gaza has sparked fears of an additional crisis as hospitals scramble to treat the thousands who have been injured in Israel's devastating aerial strikes.
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Israel on Monday had ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza - a 365 square km blockaded patch of land that is home to 2.3 million people and is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters, "No electricity, no food, no water, and no gas - it's all closed." Shortly after Mr Gallant's statement Israel stopped supply of fuel, water and food to Gaza.
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In addition, medical supplies, including oxygen, are running low at several hospitals, including Gaza's overwhelmed Al-Shifa hospital, emergency room physician Mohammed Ghonim told AFP.
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Israel's siege was in response to a brutal terror attack by Hamas operatives early Saturday; an estimated 1,500 gunmen stormed the heavily fortified border and slaughtered hundreds.
Hamas also bombarded Israel with thousands of rockets, overpowering the famed 'Iron Dome'.
Nearly 4,000 people have died on both sides and thousands more have been injured.
Hamas has also taken an estimated 150 hostages, including children and foreign nationals, and has threatened to execute one for every bomb dropped without warning on a Palestinian home. Four hostages have died so far, although they were reportedly killed during Israeli air strikes.
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Israel has massed forces, tanks and other heavy armour around Gaza as part of its retaliatory operation against what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "an attack whose savagery ... we have not seen since the Holocaust". A ground offensive, however, appears to have been delayed after rocket strikes from Lebanese terror group Hezbollah sparked talk of a two-front war for Israel.
