A Gaza firm that runs water desalination plants supplying nearly half the enclave’s two million residents halted operations on Tuesday to protest the abduction of one of its employees by Hamas terrorists a day earlier.

Youssef Yassin, a board member of the Abdul Salam Yassin Company, told Reuters that over 70 trucks that carry water containers across the Strip have also stopped operations following Monday’s kidnapping.

“I know it is catastrophic, but protecting our employees is a sacred issue,” Yassin told the news wire agency. He said that the terrorist organization had not given a reason for the employee’s “arrest.”