Israel exposes humanitarian aid for Gaza

After leaving the ceasefire

Israel exposes humanitarian aid for Gaza

At the end of the first phase of ceasefire in the Gaza War, Israel and Hamas cannot agree on a sequel. Netanyahu decides on a delivery stop for relief supplies as a means of pressure.

Israel has stopped admission to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. The import of all humanitarian aid goods will be set at the end of the first phase of the agreement for an ceasefire and an release of the Hamas Geiseln, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The first phase of the ceasefire agreement had leaked on Saturday after six weeks without Israel and Hamas being able to agree on how to proceed.

“From this morning, all imports of goods and deliveries are stopped in the Gaza Strip,” it said in the message. “Israel will not enable ceasefire without release our hostages.” There will also be “further consequences if Hamas insists on their refusal”.

Previously, Israel had agreed to extend a proposal from the United States to extend the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the Ramadan and the Pessach Festival. The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the night of Sunday that his country had accepted the proposal of the US-Naie-Sonstatasters Steve Witkoff. The Ramadan runs until the end of March, the Pessach festival will be celebrated in mid-April.

According to Netanyahu’s office, Witkoff’s proposal provides that half of the remaining hostages – dead or alive – will be released on the first day of the entry into force. In the end, the remaining hostages would be released if an agreement is reached via a permanent ceasefire.

The first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Islamist Hamas, who came into force on January 19 on January 19, leaked on Saturday. A second phase of the agreement should enable the release of dozens of hostages, which are still in the Gaza Strip, and pave the way for a permanent end of the war.

According to Netanyahu’s office, Witkoff proposed the temporary extension as an emergency solution. He came to the conclusion that Israel and Hamas are in a dead end during the negotiations and that an agreement on the conditions for permanent ceasefire is not immediately possible.

The Hamas said on Sunday that it was implemented by the second phase of the ceasefire. “The only way to achieve stability in the region and the return of the prisoners is the complete implementation of the agreement (…) starting with the implementation of the second phase,” the Hamas representative Mahmud Mardawi told the AFP news agency.

During the first phase of the ceasefire, 25 living hostages were released from the Gaza Strip, and the corpses of eight other hostages were also handed over to Israel. In return, Israel released around 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.