Israel blocks aid to devastated Gaza as truce's first phase ends

Israel blocks aid to devastated Gaza as truce's first phase ends

A young man in Beit Hanoun, central Gaza, bids farewell to one of two Palestinians killed -- Israel said an air strike had targeted suspects in northern Gaza

Israel on Sunday blocked aid flowing into Gaza, where a six-week truce enabled the entry of vital food, shelter and medical assistance, prompting the UN to call for an immediate restoration of humanitarian assistance.

The Israeli decision came as talks on a truce extension appeared to hit an impasse, after the ceasefire's 42-day first phase drew to a close.

Truce mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of blatantly violating the ceasefire deal by halting the aid, a move which according to AFP images left trucks loaded with goods lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to Gaza.

Early on Sunday Israel had announced a truce extension until mid-April that it said United States Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had proposed.

But Hamas has repeatedly rejected an extension, instead favouring a transition to the truce deal's second phase that could bring a permanent end to the war.

With uncertainty looming over the truce, both Israel and Palestinian sources reported Israeli military strikes in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, whose health ministry reported at least four people killed.

Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the fighting, said the "decision to suspend humanitarian aid is cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement".

The Egyptian foreign ministry accused Israel of using starvation as "a weapon against the Palestinian people", comments echoed by Qatar which said it "strongly condemns" Israel's decision.

Saudi Arabia, which has rejected any talk of normalising its ties with Israel without a Palestinian state, condemned the aid block as "a tool of blackmail and collective punishment".

Jordan said Israel's action "threatens to reignite" fighting in Gaza.

UN chief Antonio Guterres called for "humanitarian aid to flow back into Gaza immediately".

The European Union condemned what it called Hamas's refusal to accept the extension of the first phase, and added that Israel's subsequent aid block "risked humanitarian consequences".

Brussels called for "a rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire".

- Panic -

Gazans expressed concern over prices they said immediately surged.

"Prices are rising and people are panicking about food supplies," Belal al-Helou, 56, said in Gaza City.

More than 15 months of war in Gaza destroyed or damaged most buildings, displaced almost the entire population and triggered widespread hunger, according to the UN.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, asked by reporters about the risk of starvation, dismissed such warnings as "a lie".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had "decided that, from this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be suspended".

It said there would be "consequences" for Hamas if it did not accept the temporary truce extension.

But on a sandy street in Gaza City, Mays Abu Amer, 21, expressed hope the ceasefire can continue "forever".

According to Israel, the truce extension would see half of the hostages still in Gaza freed on the day the deal came into effect, with the rest to be released at the end if an agreement was reached on a permanent ceasefire.

Of the 251 captives taken during Hamas's October 2023 attack, 58 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.

- 'Return all of them' -

In Israel, mourners who turned out to farewell Shlomo Mansour, 85, whose body militants had held in Gaza and returned to Israel on Thursday, said more should be done to get the remaining captives home.

"Return all of them immediately," said Vardit Roiter.

Later in Jerusalem, AFP images showed protesters outside Netanyahu's residence making a similar plea. "Still Alive. Still waiting," said one sign with pictures of hostage brothers Ariel and David Cunio.

Under the first phase of the truce, Gaza militants handed over 25 living hostages and eight bodies, including Mansour's, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Israelis in Jerusalem welcomed the decision to block aid, describing it as a way to pressure Hamas.

Neria, a 27-year-old teacher who only gave his first name, aid the "smart move" could "push forward new things, the release of more hostages and the end of the war".

In southern Gaza on Sunday, the civil defence agency reported shelling and gunfire "from Israeli tanks", which the army said it was "unaware of".

The Palestine Red Crescent said Israeli drone strikes killed one person in the same area and another in a nearby town.

The military said it conducted an air strike in northern Gaza targeting suspects it said had "planted an explosive device" near its troops.

Including the deaths on Sunday, Gaza's health ministry has recorded 116 people killed by Israel's military since the ceasefire began on January 19, substantially reducing violence.

The 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, while Israel's retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 48,300 people, also mostly civilians, data from both sides show.

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