Hamas calls Israel’s moves “cheap and scary mail” and “coups,” calling for a “coup” over a ceasefire agreement between the two sides.
Israel poses a threat to Hamas, saying there will be “consequences” if Palestinian groups do not agree to extend the current phase 1 of the ceasefire agreement following the proposal proposed by the US president’s envoy, Steve Witkov.
The first phase of the agreement ended on Saturday, but Israel has not yet advanced phase two.
A statement issued early on Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office came just minutes after Phase 1 ended.
Consultations regarding the second phase of the contract are not conclusive.
Israel also said on Sunday that all goods and supplies have stopped entry to the Gaza Strip.
According to Witkov’s plan, half of the prisoners will be released on the first day, both the living and the deceased, and the rest will be released if a permanent ceasefire is reached, Netanyahu’s office added.
Furthermore, an Israeli statement said military operations could be resumed if negotiations were found to be “ineffective.”
“If Hamas changes its position, Israel will soon negotiate all the details of the Witkov Project,” he added.
Hamas previously rejected Israel’s “formulation” to extend the first phase of the ceasefire between Ramadan and the Passover, and instead called for a second phase as originally planned.
In response to the threat of halting Israeli aid, Hamas said the move is “a blatant attempt to avoid a deal and avoid negotiating a second phase.”
“Netanyahu’s decision to stop humanitarian aid is a blatant coup against cheap, scary mail, war crimes and agreements,” the statement said. “War criminal Netanyahu is trying to impose political facts on the ground. His fascist forces have failed to establish a brutal genocide for more than 15 months due to the immobility, courage and resistance of our people.
“He is trying to overthrow a signed agreement that will help him with his narrow internal political calculations, at the expense of Gaza prisoners and their lives.”
Tension rises amid uncertainty
A report from southern Gaza, Kodalee behind Al Jazeera said the Palestinians in the coastal enclave were “very stressed.”
“They feel this ceasefire is very fragile,” she said. “There are Israeli jets and drones hovering in the sky, and Palestinians feel that Israeli forces can target anywhere on the strip at any time.”
Stephen Zness, director of the Middle East Studies at the University of San Francisco, says the US has announced a proposal to support Israel.
“This is typical,” he told Al Jazeera in San Francisco. “Hamas and Israel will agree to something. Then Israel will try to revise it favorably. The United States will then submit a new proposal that is favored by Israel, and then the United States will blame Hamas for not accepting the proposal,” he said, adding that this is a pattern seen since the start of the war.
Zunes also said Israel’s refusal to hold phase 2 consultations was to put Hamas in a “difficult situation.”
“The ceasefire needs to be maintained.”
Meanwhile, humanitarian organisations have repeatedly stated that a ceasefire must continue in order to provide much-needed assistance to the Palestinians in war-torn coastal enclaves.
“The impact of safe and lasting humanitarian access is clear,” the Global Food Program said in a post in X on Saturday. “The ceasefire must be maintained. You cannot return.”
The ceasefire has been running since it began on January 19th, but the Government Media Office in Gaza (GMO) has reported more than 350 violations by Israel, including military intrusions, shootings, air raids, increased surveillance and obstruction of the ceasefire.
Israeli forces have killed and injured dozens of Palestinians in gunfire since the start of the ceasefire.
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