On Monday, Israel began a 40 percent reduction of electricity to the occupied Gaza Strip, where Palestinian residents already average only three to four hours of electricity a day.

The electricity cuts were requested by Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas to further escalate the sanctions already imposed on Gaza in an effort to wrest control of the coastal enclave away from Hamas, the PA’s primary political rival.

A long-standing rift between the PA and Hamas deepened in 2007 when, after infighting, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and the PA took control of the West Bank. Since then, the United States and Israel, together with Abbas, have consistently pressured Hamas to accept PA control over the area, often with measures worsening the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

Earlier this year, Abbas announced a 30 percent reduction to the salaries of PA employees in Gaza. Due to the Israeli blockade, poverty is rampant and unemployment is sky-high, making PA salaries a crucial source of income in the enclave.

Abbas also refused requests to cut taxes imposed on fuel for Gaza’s power station, further deepening the crisis of resources affecting the besieged enclave.

Now, with the new restrictions, electricity provision will drop to about two to three hours a day. Such limitations are certain to lead to deaths, as Gaza’s medical facilities already suffer from a lack of electricity and supplies. What’s more, Abbas has cut funding for Gaza’s medical facilities over the past months as well — from about $4 million a month to just $500,000 in May.

Like most sanctions, these measures affect the poor far more than the political class, who tend to have generators, priority medical treatment, and more access to resources.

The PA’s attrition strategy is clear. As an anonymous PA adviser said to Haaretz, “We realize this sounds cruel, but in the end, after ten years of the split and Hamas rule in the Strip, [Hamas] must decide whether it will control things in every sense, including ongoing expenses, or let the Palestinian government rule.”

After announcing its plans to punish Gaza with further electricity cuts, the PA blocked eleven websites associated with Abbas’s political rivals, preventing them from being viewed in the West Bank. Notably, one of Gaza’s most popular news services, Shehab, is among those blocked.

Because Abbas has proven himself a far more compliant negotiating partner than his rivals in Hamas, Israel and the United States have a lot to gain from PA control over the area. And Abbas may have a lot to gain, as well — many interpret Abbas’s collaboration with the Israeli occupation as a shrewd maneuver to preserve his fragile position as president long after his term was set to expire. (The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey reports that about two-thirds of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza want Abbas to resign.)

While Abbas collaborates with Israel to punish Gaza, it should be noted that Israel, as the military occupier of Gaza, is legally obligated to provide residents with services like electricity and health care, but refuses to do so. As a form of leverage, Israel even consistently withholds taxes owed to the PA that pay for such services.