By Countercurrents Collective
Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday that Israel has stopped humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip following the expiration of the prisoner-ceasefire deal. An Israeli official stated that the decision was made in full coordination with the Trump administration.
Israel has violated the ceasefire deal on the table by rejecting to go ahead with talks about the scond phase.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu’s Office announced that Israel had adopted the US’s proposal for a temporary ceasefire spanning the Ramadan and Passover periods in exchange for releasing half of Israeli living captives.
Israel demanded Hamas release five living captives and 10 bodies of deceased captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and increased aid to the Gaza Strip.
It also sought to extend the first phase of the ceasefire by a week. Israel requested, through mediators, Hamas’s response to their proposal before the end of Friday.
Hamas informed the mediators that it rejected the Israeli proposal and considered it a violation of what was agreed upon in the ceasefire.
Hardline former Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: “Now is the time to open the gates of hell—cut off electricity and water, return to war, and, most importantly, not settle for only half the prisoners. Instead, we must follow President Trump’s ultimatum: either the immediate release of all prisoners or opening the gates of hell on Gaza.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza said:
⭕️ Israel’s announcement on blocking the entry of essential aid to Gaza represents a continuation of the genocidal war on the Palestinian people.
⭕️ Preventing the entry of aid effectively means waging a war of starvation against the people of the Gaza Strip, who are entirely dependent on aid coming through the border crossings.
⭕️ We have warned from day one about the dangers of silence regarding Israel’s violations of the ceasefire agreement.
⭕️ We demand that the mediators, as guarantors, exert pressure on the Israeli occupation to fulfill its commitments under the agreement in all its stages, implement the humanitarian protocol, and allow the entry of shelter and relief supplies.
Hamas movement in a press statement said:
⭕️ Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a coup against the ceasefire agreement.
⭕️ The mediators and the international community must press the Israeli occupation and stop its punitive and immoral measures against more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.
⭕️ Israel’s allegations regarding Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire agreement are misleading and baseless.
⭕️ The behavior of Netanyahu and his government clearly violates Article 14 of the agreement, which stipulates that all measures related to the first phase continue in the second phase.
⭕️ We reaffirm our commitment to implementing the signed agreement in its three phases, and we have repeatedly announced our readiness to begin negotiations for the second stage of the agreement.
⭕️ We call on the mediators to pressure the occupation to implement its obligations under the agreement, in all its stages, and to implement the humanitarian protocol.
2 March 2025
Source: countercurrents.org