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"I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza. I want them to know what its like," Olmert told the Cabinet.
"I told the UN Secretary-General (Kofi Annan): 'True it's not comfortable for Palestinians to be without electricity,'" an official quoted Olmert as also telling the cabinet.
"But nobody has died of a lack of electricity. There is a little discomfort, so what? We won't create a humanitarian crisis," he said.
Hospitals in Gaza were supplied with electricity by generators, he said.
Israel opens Karni crossing
Israel opened its main cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday to allow food and medical supplies to be sent in from Israel, the Defense Ministry said, after a Palestinian militant attack and subsequent IDF incursion into the impoverished area led to the passage's closure.
The Karni crossing was expected to be open six hours each day for four days, said a director at the passage, Yoni Dotan. The Israeli Defense Ministry, which oversees the crossings, said 150 trucks would cross each day.
Trucks crossing into Karni carried mostly medical supplies, food and fuel, Dotan said. Fuel was also crossing at the nearby passage of Nahal Oz, Dotan said.
While food shortages have not been reported, human rights groups have warned that Gaza could face a humanitarian crisis because about 43 percent of the territory's electricity supply has been knocked out after Israel hit a power station in an air strike last Tuesday.
Israel has increased its supply of electricity to Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday. The fuel supply was also dwindling in Gaza, since Israel cut off the flow through a pipeline.
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