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03-03-2025
JERUSALEM/ GAZA STRIP: Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to a US plan for a ceasefire extension.
The first phase of a truce deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas was refusing to accept a temporary extension proposed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff.
A Hamas spokesman said blocking supplies to Gaza was “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” on the ceasefire agreement and urged mediators to intervene.
The ceasefire deal halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The internationally-mediated ceasefire plan originally proposed by Joe Biden envisages three stages.
The first phase came into force on 19 January and expired on Saturday.
Negotiations on phase two, meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, were due to have started weeks ago, but have barely begun.
Phase three is meant to result in the return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years.
Hamas has previously said it will not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from the mediators that phase two would eventually take place.
As the first phase of the deal expired on Saturday, Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed to Witkoff’s proposal for the ceasefire to continue for about six weeks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Jewish Passover periods.
If, at the end of this period, negotiations reached a dead end, Israel would reserve the right to go back to war.
Witkoff has not made his proposal public. According to Israel, it would begin with the release of half of all the remaining living and dead hostages.
Witkoff is said by Israel to have proposed the temporary extension after becoming convinced that more time was needed to try to bridge the differences between Israel and Hamas on conditions for ending the war.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office said: “With the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks to which Israel agreed, Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease.
“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”
The Hamas spokesman said: “Netanyahu’s decision to stop aid going into Gaza once again shows the ugly face of the Israeli occupation… The international community must apply pressure on the Israeli government to stop starving our people.”
Aid agencies confirmed that no aid trucks had been allowed into Gaza on Sunday morning.
“Humanitarian assistance has to continue to flow into Gaza. It’s very essential. And we are calling all parties to make sure that they reach a solution,” Antoine Renard from the World Food Program (WFP) told media.
Thousands of trucks entered the Gaza Strip each week since the ceasefire was agreed in mid-January.
Aid agencies have managed to store supplies, which means there is no immediate danger to the civilian population from this morning’s Israeli decision. (Int’l News Desk)
