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<h1>Israel cuts off aid to Gaza as it seeks to change ceasefire deal with Hamas</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead"><em>Israel
has stopped the entry of all goods and supplies into Gaza in attempt to
pressure Hamas into accepting new ceasefire proposal.</em></p><div class="gmail-featured-media__image-wrap"><div class="gmail-video-shadow"><div class="gmail-pre_video-wrapper"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-video-shadow"><div class="gmail-pre_video-wrapper"><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AP25055597168689-1740548324.jpg?resize=730%2C410&quality=80" alt="A Palestinian family stands on the rubble of their home" width="446" height="250" style="margin-right: 0px;"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-post-icon-parent"><div class="gmail-post-icon__container gmail-post-icon--large"></div></div><div class="gmail-featured-media__image-wrap"><div class="gmail-post-icon-parent"><div class="gmail-post-icon__container gmail-post-icon--large"><span class="gmail-post-icon__text">09:16</span></div></div><div class="gmail-video-caption"><p>Ambiguous US position on Gaza needs to be clearly stated: Analysis</p></div></div><div class="gmail-article-info-block"><div class="gmail-article-b-l"><div class="gmail-article-dates"><div class="gmail-date-simple"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 2 Mar 2025 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/2/israel-reneges-on-ceasefire-deal-warns-hamas-of-consequences">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/2/israel-reneges-on-ceasefire-deal-warns-hamas-of-consequences</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"><span class="gmail-update-reading-list__tooltip" role="tooltip"></span></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fbcnxnf"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Israel%20cuts%20off%20aid%20to%20Gaza%20as%20it%20seeks%20to%20change%20ceasefire%20deal%20with%20Hamas&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fbcnxnf"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-copylink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Copy link" href="https://aje.io/bcnxnf"></a><p>Israel
has halted the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza and threatened
Hamas with more “consequences” if the Palestinian group does not agree
to extend the now-ended phase one of their fragile ceasefire agreement.</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on
Sunday that “the entry of all goods and supplies to the Gaza Strip will
be halted,” accusing Hamas of refusing to accept a framework for the
continuation of talks proposed by US special envoy Steve Witkoff.</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without a release of
our hostages,” the statement said. “If Hamas persists in its refusal,
there will be additional consequences.”</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the existing
ceasefire agreement and said its decision to cut off aid was “cheap
extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack” on the ceasefire, which
took effect in January.</p>
<p>The first phase of the agreement ended on Saturday, but Israel is yet
to move ahead with the second phase of the three-phase deal.</p><div style="display:block;min-width:0px;max-width:770px"><div class="gmail-video-player-facade-container"><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-0 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu gmail-vjs-hide-controls" id="gmail-vjs_video_3" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"><br><div class="gmail-vjs-poster" aria-disabled="false"><span class="gmail-vjs-poster" tabindex="-1"><img alt="" src="https://cf-images.eu-west-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/665003303001/b32d7ec0-542d-4bc5-976a-237220124605/b0ed5c1b-c566-4c3a-acf4-d4f8fd317cab/1920x1080/match/image.jpg" width="446" height="251" style="margin-right: 0px;"></span></div><div class="gmail-vjs-text-track-display"><div style="margin:1.5%"></div></div></span></div></div></div><div class="gmail-aj-video-player gmail-in-article-bc-video-player gmail-aj-parsed-component"><span class="gmail-video-js gmail-vjs-paused gmail-vjs-controls-enabled gmail-vjs-touch-enabled gmail-vjs-workinghover gmail-vjs-v8 gmail-vjs-user-active gmail-vjs-layout-medium gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default gmail-bc-player-6tKQRAx7lu_default-index-0 gmail-vjs-ad-controls gmail-vjs-ima3-html5 gmail-vjs-plugins-ready gmail-pause-controller gmail-vjs-player-info gmail-vjs-contextmenu-ui gmail-vjs-viewability gmail-vjs-errors gmail-vjs-quality-menu gmail-vjs-hide-controls" id="gmail-vjs_video_3" tabindex="-1" lang="en" role="region" aria-label="Video Player"></span></div><p></p>
<p class="gmail-sc-eb7bd5f6-0 gmail-fezwLZ">Netanyahu’s office said Israel has
agreed to a proposal by Witkoff to extend the first phase of the
ceasefire for six weeks during Ramadan – the Muslim holy month that
began over the weekend – and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends on
April 20.</p><p>Netanyahu said Israel could resume military operations in Gaza if negotiations prove to be “ineffective” during this period.</p>
<p class="gmail-sc-eb7bd5f6-0 gmail-fezwLZ">While Witkoff has not made his proposal
public, Netanyahu said it would begin with the handing over of half of
all remaining living and deceased captives. The rest of the captives
would be handed over when an agreement is reached on a permanent
ceasefire.</p>
<p>Netanyahu says Hamas is currently holding 59 captives: 24 alive and 35 dead.</p>
<p>Hamas had earlier <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/1/hamas-rejects-israels-formulation-to-extend-phase-one-of-gaza-ceasefire">rejected Israel’s “formulation”</a>
of extending the first phase of the ceasefire during Ramadan and
Passover and instead called for the second phase to unfold as originally
agreed.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-the-ceasefire-must-hold">‘The ceasefire must hold’</h2>
<p>Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from southern Gaza, said
Palestinians in the coastal enclave were “very stressed” by the prospect
of a return to fighting.</p>
<p>“They feel that this ceasefire is very fragile,” she said. “There are
Israeli jets and drones hovering in the sky, making Palestinians feel
that at any minute, Israeli forces can target any place across the Gaza
Strip.”</p>
<p>Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly said the ceasefire must
continue if they are to provide much-needed aid to Palestinians in the
coastal enclave, which has been devastated by the 17-month war.</p>
<p>“The impact of safe and sustained humanitarian access is evident,”
the World Food Programme said in a post on X on Saturday. “The ceasefire
must hold. There can be no going back.”</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">Hundreds of aid trucks have entered Gaza daily since the
ceasefire began on January 19. But residents said prices doubled on
Sunday as word of the closure spread and people raced to stock up.</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">“Everyone is worried,” said Sayed al-Dairi, a man living in Gaza City, told The Associated Press. “This is not a life.”</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">Fayza Nassar, a woman living in the heavily destroyed
urban Jabalia refugee camp, said the closure would exacerbate already
dire living conditions.</p>
<p class="gmail-p1">“There will be famine and chaos,” she told AP. “Closing the crossings is a heinous crime.”</p>
<p>Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the
University of San Francisco, says the US’s apparent proposal favouring
Israel follows a well-established pattern seen since the beginning of
the war.</p>
<p>“This is typical,” he told Al Jazeera. “Hamas and Israel will agree
to something. Then Israel will try to revise it in its favour. Then the
US will put forward a new proposal that is in Israel’s favour and then
the US will blame Hamas for not accepting that proposal.”</p>
<p>Netanyahu’s refusal to move to the second phase of the ceasefire
agreement has also been criticised in Israel, as hundreds of Israelis
demonstrated outside the homes of several government ministers on Sunday
to demand the completion of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange
agreement.</p>
<p>“Israel signed an agreement that was supposed to begin negotiations
for the second phase on day 16 of the first phase. However, Israel has
avoided these negotiations,” Yair Golan, leader of the Democrats Party,
told the Israeli media outlet Maariv.</p>
<p>“Those who want to release the hostages need to understand a simple
thing – we need to reach a long-term ceasefire and withdraw from most of
Gaza. Netanyahu is constantly looking for ways to keep all Israeli
citizens under extraordinary pressure and in a state of emergency, as it
serves his political needs.”</p></div>