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Israel stopped all the humanitarian aid to Gazi after the militant group Hamas rejected a revised proposal for an extension of a tribute that missed and condemned the latest plan as “manipulation” early on Sunday.
The conflict in Gaza was stopped for 42 days after the two warring parties agreed to the initial truce in January through American, Egyptian and Qatar’s mediation.
In recent days, Israel and Hamas have exchanged mutual recruitments for violating the agreement, not managing to agree on the extension of the tribute to the second phase that was supposed to end the war and ensured the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Sunday that Israel agreed to a proposal allegedly composed by American special envoy Steve Witkoff, who would extend the truce in another six weeks, the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover Festival.
The proposal requires Hamas to let half of his remaining hostages, some 30 people, on the first day of work, while two sides begin talks about “permanent tribute”, according to Netanyahua’s office. Hamas would then oblige to publish all the remaining hostages “in the end.. If an agreement is reached,” said the Israeli side.
It remains unclear whether Witkoff and the administration of US President Donald Trump are behind the proposal published by Israel, although analysts believe that such an Israeli statement and the interruption of Gazi are likely to be coordinated with Washington.
Mahmoud Mardawi, a spokesman for Hamas, immediately rejected the proposal and said that Israel “repeatedly renewed the agreements he signed and continued to avoid implementing his obligations.”
Mardawi reiterated the group’s position that the second phase of the truce – to include the fully Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the permanent end of the war and the renovation of the broken territory – had to be agreed before the additional hostages were released.
“This continuous manipulation will not return [hostages] To their families, but on the contrary, they will lead to the continuation of their suffering and endangering their lives, “Mardawi added.
Israel said in response that “all the entry of goods and stock in the Gaza bar will stop,” according to Netanyahu, who added: “Israel will not allow a truce without letting our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”
Hamas described the decision as a “cheap blackmail, war crime and obvious annulment of the agreement” and urged international mediators to press Israel to reverse the move.
During the initial six -week trial, Hamas published 33 Israeli hostages, eight of which were no longer alive, along with five Thai foreign workers. Israel in turn released more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from their prison and allowed 4,200 trucks to help enter Gaza each week.
Israel delayed the initial conversations in the second phase of the trial, which was to start four weeks ago, under the conditions of the original agreement signed in January. Negotiations about the last blows at the end of last week in Cairo failed to overcome the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Netanyahu claimed on Sunday that Israel would return to war if he believed that “negotiations were ineffective”, adding that he had guarantees of US administration for such a move.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that he approved a accelerated delivery of $ 4 billion in military assistance to Israel, revealing what he claimed to be the “partial embargo of the previous US management of President Joe Biden for concern about high civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Additional reporting Heba Saleh in Cairo and Steff Chavez in Washington
