Israel blocks aid into Gaza as ceasefire standoff escalates

Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza Sunday as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said earlier that it had adopted a proposal by US President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods, hours after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired.If agreed, the truce would halt fighting until the end of the Ramadan fasting period around March 31 and the Jewish Passover holiday around April 20.The truce would be conditional on Hamas releasing half of the living and dead hostages on the first day, with the remainder released at the conclusion, if an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire.Hamas says it is committed to the originally agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to move into a second phase, with negotiations aimed at a permanent end to the war, and it has rejected the idea of a temporary extension to the 42-day truce.Reflecting the fragility of the ceasefire deal, local health officials said Israeli gunfire had killed four Palestinians in separate attacks in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.The United Nations called on Israel to immediately allow aid into Gaza, hours after it suspended humanitarian deliveries into the war-battered territory as talks on a truce extension appeared to hit an impasse.Egyptian sources said on Friday that the Israeli delegation in Cairo had sought to extend the first phase by 42 days, while Hamas wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire deal. Spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Saturday that the group rejected Israel's "formulation" of extending the first phase.In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hamas handed over 33 Israeli hostages as well as five Thais returned in an unscheduled release, in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from some of their positions in Gaza.Under the original agreement, the second phase was intended to see the start of negotiations over the release of the remaining 59 hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a final end to the war.However the talks never began and Israel says all its hostages must be returned for fighting to stop."Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages," Netanyahu's office said, announcing that the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip would be halted.Hamas has denounced Israel's move as "blackmail" and a "blatant coup against the agreement"."We call on mediators to pressure the occupation to fulfill its obligations under the agreement, in all its phases," it said, adding that the only way to get the hostages back would be to adhere to the agreement and start talks for the second phase.Israeli officials said a delegation would arrive in Cairo in an apparent move to discuss ways to defuse tensions and ensure the ceasefire remains in effect.Over the past six weeks, both sides have accused the other of breaching the agreement. But despite repeated hiccups, it has remained in place while the hostage-for-prisoner exchange envisaged in the first phase was completed.The issue has been further muddled by Trump's proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and redevelop the coastal enclave as a property project under US ownership.

116 Palestinians killed since Gaza ceasefire

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has revealed that the total number of martyrs since the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli occupation has reached 116, with more than 490 injuries. Four Palestinians were killed and six others injured as a result of Israeli occupation forces targeting various areas in the Gaza Strip Sunday. On Saturday, the Health Ministry announced that the death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli aggression on Oct. 7, 2023, had risen to 48,388 martyrs.