By Isabel Kersner
Israel announced Sunday that it was immediately halting the entry of all goods and humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip, trying to force Hamas into accepting a temporary extension of the ceasefire in the war.
The move disrupts the existing, agreed-upon framework for negotiating a permanent end to the war and puts the fate of the hostages into uncharted territory. The draconian halt on goods and aid, including fuel, is also likely to worsen conditions for the roughly 2 million inhabitants of Gaza, after the 15-month war left much of the coastal enclave in ruins.
The initial, six-week phase of the original deal between Israel and Hamas expired Saturday. Though it was punctured by setbacks and mutual accusations of violations, it ultimately saw at least a temporary cessation in the fighting and the exchange of 25 living Israeli hostages and the remains of eight dead ones for about 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. That deal also allowed for a significant increase of aid into Gaza.
The next phase of the agreement called for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a commitment to a permanent ceasefire in return for the release of all the remaining living hostages in Gaza, who are being held in inhumane conditions, according to reports from hostages who have been freed.
Instead, hours before its announcement about the halt of aid, Israel proposed a seven-week extension of the temporary ceasefire, during which Hamas must release half the remaining living hostages as well as the remains of half the deceased ones. Upon conclusion of that extension, if agreement were reached on a permanent ceasefire, then all the remaining hostages would have to be released, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement Sunday.
“If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences,” it added.
Hamas immediately rejected the Israeli gambit, issuing a statement Sunday describing the halt in aid as “cheap blackmail” and “a blatant upending of the agreement.”
Israel attributed the new proposal to the work of the U.S. envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff. The existing deal was negotiated between Israel and Hamas through third-country mediators including the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Last year, the United Nations and aid organizations repeatedly warned about a looming famine in Gaza amid widespread hunger during the war, which was sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. While goods are more available now, many Palestinians say they cannot afford to buy them, and many depend on humanitarian assistance.
Palestinians in Gaza were already struggling to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan, which began this weekend, and is normally a joyous time in the Muslim calendar.
Two Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the government believed that with the aid and goods that entered the enclave in recent months and during the temporary ceasefire, there were enough supplies in Gaza to suffice for several more months. They did not offer further details.
The officials added that the new restrictions would not apply to the entry of water.
Under the existing ceasefire deal, Israel was by now supposed to have begun removing its troops from the Philadelphi Corridor, a strategic strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt. By Sunday, there had been no such movement.
Netanyahu said the proposed temporary ceasefire should extend over the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and through the Jewish holiday of Passover, which ends April 20.
In broadcast remarks at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said, “Steve Witkoff proposed the framework for extending the ceasefire after gaining the impression that there is no possibility, at present, of bridging between the two positions, Israel’s and Hamas’, regarding the second stage” of the existing deal.
Netanyahu added that according to Witkoff, additional time for talks was needed to achieve a possible agreement. “He even defined his proposal as a corridor for negotiations on the second stage,” Netanyahu said. “Israel is ready for this.”
But the Israeli government has been categorical that the war in Gaza cannot end unless Hamas is disarmed and removed from power there, terms that Hamas has largely rejected.
Israelis have been shocked by the testimonies of recently released hostages who said they were kept for months in dark tunnels, in constant fear for their lives, with very little food and, in some cases, in shackles. The families of hostages remaining in Gaza have been pleading for the government to end the war and bring them home all at once.
In all, up to 24 hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza, Netanyahu said Sunday. Hamas also holds the remains of at least 35 who are believed to be dead, he added in recorded remarks at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. “We are not giving up on anyone,” he said.
“There will be no free lunches,” Netanyahu said, adding, “If Hamas thinks that it will be possible to continue the ceasefire or benefit from the terms of the first stage, without us receiving hostages, it is sorely mistaken.”
On Sunday, Hamas reiterated its willingness to begin negotiations for the second stage of the deal and accused Israel of “a blatant attempt to renege on the agreement.”
Hamas is unlikely to accept Israel’s new offer without further negotiations, said 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.”
On Sunday, Israel also raised the specter of resuming fighting in Gaza, noting in the statement that according to the original agreement, Israel could return to fighting at this point “if it gains the impression that the negotiations have been ineffective.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement Saturday that he had signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.
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