Israel reneges on ceasefire deal with Hamas
Israel has reneged on the ceasefire agreement with Hamas, refusing to proceed to the second phase as earlier agreed.
The first phase of the agreement ended on Saturday, but Israel is yet to move ahead with the second phase, which would have ultimately led to a permanent end to the war.
Instead, it has started issuing threats of resuming bombings in Gaza and other Palestinian territory where it had already killed more than 50,000 people mostly women and children, and destroyed over 75 percent of buildings in the Gaza Strip.
Israel, backed by the United States have now come up with another temporary ceasefire to last during the Ramadan, and has early Sunday announced the stoppage of entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip.
The new plan being pushed by Israel and United States presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, is that half of the remaining captives, both living and deceased, would be released on the first day, with the remainder freed if a permanent ceasefire is reached.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had issued a statement Sunday saying Hamas must accept the new deal or the Israelis will resume military operations.
“If Hamas changes its position, Israel will immediately enter into negotiations on all the details of the Witkoff plan,” it added.
Hamas had earlier rejected Israel’s “formulation” of extending the first phase of the ceasefire during Ramadan and Passover and instead called for moving into the second phase as originally planned.
In response to Israel’s threat of stopping of aid, Hamas said the move “is a blatant attempt to evade the agreement and avoid entering into negotiations for its second phase”.
“Netanyahu’s decision to stop humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the agreement,” it said in a statement.
“The war criminal Netanyahu is trying to impose political facts on the ground, which his fascist army failed to establish over 15 months of brutal genocide, due to the steadfastness, bravery and resistance of our people.
“He is seeking to overthrow the signed agreement in service of his narrow internal political calculations, at the expense of the occupation prisoners in Gaza and their lives.”
There are already Israeli jets and drones hovering in the sky in a bid to intimidate the Palestinians.
Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, scopes at the US proposal, saying it favours Israel, adding that it is “typical” of both US and Israel.
“Hamas and Israel will agree to something. Then Israel will try to revise it in its favour. Then the US will put forward a new proposal that is in Israel’s favour and then the US will blame Hamas for not accepting that proposal. This has been the pattern since the beginning of the war.”
Zunes also said Israel’s refusal to engage in talks for a second phase is putting Hamas in a “difficult situation”.
Meanwhile, humanitarian organisations have repeatedly said the ceasefire must continue if they are to provide much-needed aid to Palestinians in the coastal enclave, which has been devastated by the war.
“The impact of safe and sustained humanitarian access is evident,” the World Food Programme said in a post on X on Saturday. “The ceasefire must hold. There can be no going back.”
Since the ceasefire began on January 19, Israel had violated it 350 times, Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) reported. This includes military incursions, gunfire, air raids, intensified surveillance, several killings and the obstruction of aid.
