
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 2, 2025, after Israel suspended the entry of supplies into the Palestinian Strip. AFP
Israel also warned of additional consequences if Hamas doesn't accept a new US proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday Passover, which ends on 20 April.
A statement from Netanyahu's office said that "with the end of Phase 1 of the hostage deal, and in light of Hamas's refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks—to which Israel agreed—Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease. […] Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences."
The ceasefire/prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, has been in effect since 19 January.
The 42-day first phase stipulated that Israel cease bombing of the strip, allow the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
In return, Hamas would release more than two dozen captives and the bodies of captives killed by Israeli bombardment.
The deal also stipulated that both parties would begin talks on issues related to ending the war and the full Israeli withdrawal from the stip at the end of the first phase.
The Israeli side violated the agreement on multiple fronts, with intermittent deadly bombardments, delaying the release of the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners last week, and refusing to start talks on arrangements for ending the war and withdrawal,
In February, US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, proposed that Israel extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement by 42 days.
Israel and Witkoff want Hamas to release half of all remaining Israeli captives during the extension but without giving any guarantees that Te Aviv would not resume its genocidal war or withdraw from the strip.
Later Sunday, in response to the new US/Israeli extra-deal demands, Hamas stated: "The statement issued by the office of the terrorist occupation’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, regarding his approval of US proposals to extend the first phase of the [ceasefire] agreement, is a blatant attempt to evade the deal and avoid negotiations for its second phase."
"Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant breach of the agreement. Mediators and the international community must act to pressure the occupation and stop its punitive and unethical measures against more than two million people in Gaza."
The Palestinian group asserted that "Netanyahu and his government are clearly violating Article 14 of the agreement, which states that all procedures of the first phase should continue into the second phase and that mediators must exert their best efforts to ensure negotiations continue until an agreement is reached on the implementation of the second phase."
Hamas dismissed Israeli claims that the group violated the ceasefire deal as "baseless, misleading," and an attempt to obscure the occupation's systemic breaches, which killed 115 Palestinians and injured 490 since the ceasefire went into effect on 19 January, according to the government media office in Gaza.
The group also accused Israel of obstructing the humanitarian protocol, preventing the entry of shelter supplies and relief aid, and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
Hamas holds "war criminal Netanyahu and his extremist government fully responsible for obstructing the agreement or for any reckless actions to overturn it, including the humanitarian consequences for Israeli captives in Gaza," adding that the "only way to recover Israeli captives is to abide by the agreement and immediately enter negotiations for the second phase while ensuring Israel fulfills its commitments."
The first phase of the ceasefire, which included a surge in humanitarian aid to alleviate near-famine conditions in the strip, expired on Saturday.
In December, the total number of trucks that entered the strip amounted to 2,892, according to a United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) report.
At the time, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system (IPC) warned that famine was "imminent" in the strip.
The ceasefire stipulates that Israel must permit the entry of 600 aid trucks into Gaza daily, which is a little over half the aid that used to enter the strip pre-war.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, an Israeli official told AP the decision to suspend aid was made in coordination with the Trump administration.
Under the US/Israeli proposed extension, Israel demands Hamas release half the captives on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, according to Netanyahu's office.
Hamas has previously rejected an extension, expressing its willingness to free the remaining captives all at once in Phase 2, but only in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip.
An Egyptian official not authorized to brief the media and who spoke on the condition of anonymity told AP that Hamas and Egypt would not accept a new proposal aimed at repatriating the remaining captives without ending the war.
The official noted that the agreement had called on the two sides to begin negotiations over Phase 2 in early February and that mediators were trying to resolve the dispute.
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