Israel blocks aid to Gaza after first ceasefire phase ends

Israel on Sunday announced that it will block the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, claiming that Palestinian militant group Hamas had rejected a United States proposal to extend the expiring first phase of the ceasefire.

“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without a release of our hostages,” the prime minister’s office said. “If Hamas persists in its refusal, there will be additional consequences.”

A Hamas spokesperson said that blocking aid to Gaza was “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” on the ceasefire deal, according to the BBC. The militant group urged mediators to intervene in the matter.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt accused Tel Aviv of violating international humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon, the Associated Press reported.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli government said that it had approved a temporary extension of the ceasefire in Gaza after the conclusion of the first six-week phase of its deal with Hamas.

The extension will last till the end of the Muslim festival of Ramzan in late March and the Jewish Passover period that lasts till mid-April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had said.

The first phase of the ceasefire came into effect on January 19 and was to expire on Saturday without any certainty about the second phase. The ceasefire had halted 15 months of fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.

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