Israel announced on Sunday that he was immediately stopping the entry of all goods and humanitarian assistance to Gaza, trying to enlist Hamas to accept a temporary extension of the ceased in the enclave-a move that interrupts the existing and agreed framework at the head of negotiation to negotiate a permanent structure and puts the fate of the hospitals
The draconian arrest on goods and aid, including fuel, is likely that the conditions for about two million inhabitants of Gaza is likely, after the 15 -month war left most of the coastal enclave in ruin.
The initial six -week phase of the original agreement between Israel and Hamas expired on Saturday. Although he was pierced by arrest bars and mutual accusations of violations, in the end he saw at least a temporary cessation in the fighting and in the exchange of 25 living Israeli hostages and the remains of eight dead for about 1,500 Palestinian and detained prisoners. This agreement also allowed a significant increase in aid to Gaza.
The next phase of the agreement provided for a full withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Gaza and a commitment for a ceased the permanent fire in exchange for the release of all the living hostages remaining in Gaza.
Instead, hours before his announcement on the arrest of the aid, Israel proposed a seven weeks of the temporary fire ceased, during which Hamas must release half of the remaining living hostages and the remains of half of those who died. At the end of this extension, if an agreement had been reached on a ceased fire, then all the remaining hostages should be released, said the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Israel will not allow a fire without the release of our hostages,” said Mr. Netanyahu’s office in a Sunday declaration.
“If Hamas continues his refusal, there will be further consequences,” he added.
Hamas immediately rejected the Israeli move, releasing a Sunday declaration that described the stop in help as “cheap blackmail, a war crime and a clear reversal of the agreement”.
Israel has attributed the new proposal to the work of the American advance to the Region, Steve Witkoff. The existing agreement was negotiated between Israel and Hamas through the third -country mediators including the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Last year, the United Nations organizations and aids repeatedly felt a familiar familiar famine in the middle of widespread hunger during the war, which was unleashed by the attack led by Hamas on October 7 in Israel. While goods are more available now, many Gazan say they cannot afford to buy them and many depend on humanitarian assistance.
The Palestinians in Gaza were already fighting to celebrate the sacred month of Ramadan, who started this weekend, and is normally a joyful moment in the Muslim calendar.
Two Israeli officials, who speak on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal resolutions, said that the government believed that with the aids and goods that have entered the enclave in recent months and during the ceased temporary fire, there have been quite supplies in Gaza to sufficient for several months. They have not offered further details.
Officials added that the new restrictions would not apply to the entrance of the water.
According to the current agreement, the fire, Israel had to start removing his troops from the corridor of Filadelfi, a strategic strip of land along the Gaza border with Egypt. On Sunday, there were no movement.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office said that the ceased the temporary fire proposed should extend to the Muslim fasting of Ramadan and through the Jewish holiday of the Jewish Easter, which ends on April 20. In all, it is believed that about 25 hostages are still alive in Gaza. Hamas also holds the remains of more than 30 who are believed to have died.
At the end of this extension, if an agreement was reached on a ceased fire, then all the remaining hostages would have been released, said Mr. Netanyahu’s office.
“Steve Witkoff proposed the picture to extend the ceased the fire after obtaining the impression that, at the moment, there was no possibility of filling between the positions of the sides to end the war and that a further time was necessary for the interviews on a ceased fire”, added the declaration of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Israeli government was categorical that the war in Gaza cannot end if Hamas is not disarmed and removed from power there, terms that Hamas has widely rejected.
On Sunday, Israel also raised the spectrum of resuming the fighting in Gaza, noting in the declaration that, according to the original agreement, Israel could return to fight at this point “if he earns the impression that the negotiations have been ineffective”.
It is unlikely that Hamas accepts Israel’s new offer without further negotiations, said Aaron David Miller, An ex -analyst and negotiator of the Middle East of the State Department who is now a senior member at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The proposal, said, “allows the Israelis to recover the hostages without committing mutual commitments”.
Eve Sampson Reports contributed by New York e Myra Noveck from Jerusalem.