Israel announced on Sunday morning that it was halting the entry of all goods and humanitarian assistance into Gaza immediately, hours after proposing a temporary extension of the now-expired cease-fire with Hamas.
The drastic step to block aid appeared to be aimed at pressuring Hamas into accepting the new framework — and to make the Israeli government’s negotiating position clear.
Under Israel’s proposal for an extension, which it attributed to the U.S. envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, half of the remaining hostages held in Gaza would be released to Israel on the first day of the agreement. If, at the end of the temporary extension — stretching until the end of Passover on April 20 — a permanent truce had been reached, the rest of the hostages would then be returned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that he had decided that, “as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease” because of “Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks, to which Israel agreed.”
The statement added: “Israel will not allow a cease-fire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”
Hamas immediately rejected the move, describing it in a statement as “cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant upending of the agreement.”
The move is likely to worsen conditions for the inhabitants of Gaza, after the 15-month war left much of the coastal enclave in ruins.
Israel and Hamas have struggled to move from the first phase of the cease-fire, which expired on Saturday, into a second, more comprehensive phase as the deal initially called for.
Israel’s proposal of a tentative truce came after a cabinet meeting led by Mr. Netanyahu and attended by his minister of defense, senior defense officials and a negotiating team, according to the prime minister’s office.
Earlier Saturday, a Hamas spokesman told Al-Araby TV that the militant group had rejected Israel’s framework for an extension, Reuters reported.
Both Israel and Hamas have reasons to avoid another round of fighting, at least for now. Hamas wants to give its forces a chance to recuperate, while Israel wants to bring home the remaining hostages. But the prospect of a comprehensive agreement seems remote.
And Hamas is unlikely to accept Israel’s offer without further negotiations, according to Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East analyst and negotiator who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The proposal, he said, “allows Israelis to get hostages back without making reciprocal commitments.”
Under the proposal, the extension would cover the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started over the weekend and concludes at the end of March, and the Jewish holiday of Passover, which goes from the evening of April 12 until April 20. Together they would give Israel and Hamas about seven weeks to reach a comprehensive agreement.
“Hamas is not going to return all of the hostages until it has ironclad guarantees that the Israelis will withdraw their forces and formally declare and abide by an end of the war,” Mr. Miller said. “No one is going to give Hamas that guarantee,” he added.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the existing deal, which was set forth in the final days of the Biden administration. Phase 1 of that deal allowed for a six-week truce to negotiate an end to the war.
The terms included the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. A week ago Israel delayed the release of hundreds of prisoners in protest of Hamas’s having paraded Israeli hostages in public spectacles before handing them over.
The negotiations between Hamas and Israel that were supposed have been completed by this weekend still have not begun in earnest, though officials from each party did visit Cairo to discuss next steps. Mr. Netanyahu has stated that Israel was ready to resume fighting if Hamas did not disarm voluntarily.
Hamas has avoided outright calls for a resumption in hostilities, though the group has refused to surrender.
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