JERUSALEM: Israel blocked the entry of help vehicles into Gaza on Sunday (Mar 2) as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the previous six weeks escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned earlier that it had adopted a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a short lived ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover durations, hours after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired.
If agreed, the truce would halt combating till the top of the Ramadan fasting interval round Mar 31 and the Jewish Passover vacation round Apr 20.
The truce can be conditional on Hamas releasing half of the living and dead hostages on the primary day, with the rest launched on the conclusion, if an settlement is reached on a everlasting ceasefire.
Hamas says it’s dedicated to the initially agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to maneuver right into a second section, with negotiations geared toward a everlasting finish to the struggle, and it has rejected the thought of a short lived extension to the 42-day truce.
Reflecting the fragility of the ceasefire deal, native well being officers mentioned Israeli gunfire had killed 4 Palestinians in separate assaults within the northern and southern Gaza Strip. There was no instant Israeli remark.
Egyptian sources mentioned on Friday that the Israeli delegation in Cairo had sought to increase the primary section by 42 days, whereas Hamas wished to maneuver to the second section of the ceasefire deal. Spokesman Hazem Qassem mentioned on Saturday that the group rejected Israel’s “formulation” of extending the primary section.
Within the first section of the ceasefire, Hamas handed over 33 Israeli hostages in addition to five Thais returned in an unscheduled release, in trade for round 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from a few of their positions in Gaza.
Below the unique settlement, the second section was meant to see the beginning of negotiations over the discharge of the remaining 59 hostages, the total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a last finish to the struggle.
