[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Trump’s threat to Gaza undermines truce

Hamas said yesterday that Donald Trump’s threats would encourage Israel to disregard the fragile ceasefire, after the US president said that unless hostages are freed, the people of Gaza would be “DEAD”.

www.thedailystar.net

Trump’s threat to Gaza undermines truce
Says Hamas as US holds unprecedented direct talks for release of American hostages
​

• Trump said he was "sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job"​
• Israel has halted the flow of goods, supplies into Gaza​
• France, Britain, Germany jointly called the situation in Gaza "catastrophic"​

Hamas said yesterday that Donald Trump's threats would encourage Israel to disregard the fragile ceasefire, after the US president said that unless hostages are freed, the people of Gaza would be "DEAD".

Trump's warning came hours after his administration revealed it held unprecedented direct talks with Hamas, which it proscribes as a "terrorist" group, focused on American hostages in Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirmed Israel was consulted and said in a statement that it "expressed its opinion" on the direct talks.

Trump said later he was "sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job" as his administration expedites billions of dollars in weapons.

"Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you," he wrote on his Truth Social platform after meeting freed hostages.

"This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance."

Trump also warned of repercussions for Gaza as a whole, where virtually the entire population has been displaced by Israel's relentless military campaign.

"To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!"

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasim said Trump's words pushed Israel to disregard the terms of a ceasefire in place since January 19.

"These threats complicate matters regarding the ceasefire agreement and encourage the occupation to avoid implementing its terms," Qasim said in a statement, urging the United States to pressure Israel to enter the ceasefire's second phase.

Israel has ramped up its rhetoric and halted the flow of goods and supplies into Gaza.

"Hamas has indeed suffered a severe blow, but it has not yet been defeated. The mission is not yet accomplished," Israel's new military chief Eyal Zamir warned Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, France, Britain and Germany jointly called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "catastrophic," and urged Israel to ensure the "unhindered" delivery of aid.

South Africa said Israel's restriction of aid into Gaza amounted to using starvation as a weapon of war.​

 

[Saif]

Israel again weaponising starvation in Gaza: UN

A group of UN human rights experts said Thursday that Israel is again ‘weaponising starvation’ in Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid after the first phase of a ceasefire deal expired.

www.newagebd.net

Israel again weaponising starvation in Gaza: UN
Agence France-Presse . Geneva 07 March, 2025, 22:33

A group of UN human rights experts said Thursday that Israel is again ‘weaponising starvation’ in Gaza by blocking humanitarian aid after the first phase of a ceasefire deal expired.

A fragile ceasefire since January 19 saw an influx of humanitarian aid into Gaza, before Israel on Sunday announced it was blocking deliveries until Palestinian militant group Hamas accepted its terms for an extension of the ceasefire.

The group of more than 30 experts — specialists in various fields who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations — said the Israeli action breached international law.

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would ‘open the gates of hell’ in Gaza if all hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks were not returned. Gaza has already been devastated by the war that followed the attacks.

‘Apart from the cruelty of these statements on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, these moves are patently unlawful under international law,’ the experts said.

‘As the occupying power, Israel is always obliged to ensure sufficient food, medical supplies and other relief services.’

‘Israel is once again weaponising aid. These are serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws, and war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute,’ they added.

Israel stopped aid deliveries into Gaza saying they were being diverted by Hamas.

With significant US involvement, Hamas and Israel are arguing over how to extend the ceasefire.

Israel wants an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire until mid-April. It is demanding the return of hostages, the total demilitarisation of Gaza and the departure of Hamas before the second phase of the ceasefire accord starts.

Hamas has demanded that the second phase, which should see the negotiation of a permanent ceasefire, be started and that the group should remain in the territory it has run since 2007.​

 

[Saif]

Gaza reconstruction: Europe backs Arab-led $53 billion plan

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave

www.thedailystar.net

Gaza reconstruction: Europe backs Arab-led $53 billion plan

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has only worsened. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said on Saturday they supported an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion and avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave.

"The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza," the ministers said in a joint statement.

The plan, which was drawn up by Egypt and adopted by Arab leaders on Tuesday, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald Trump, who has presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a "Middle East Riviera".

The Egyptian proposal envisages the creation of an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The committee would be responsible for the oversight of humanitarian aid and managing the Strip's affairs for a temporary period under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority.

The statement issued by the four European countries on Saturday said they were "committed to working with the Arab initiative," and they appreciated the "important signal" the Arab states had sent by developing it.

The statement said Hamas "must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel any more" and that the four countries "support the central role for the Palestinian Authority and the implementation of its reform agenda."​

 

[Saif]

TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN: Muslim nations adopt Arab alternative

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation formally adopted early Saturday an Arab League counter-proposal to US president Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents, calling on the international community to support the regional initiative.

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TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN: Muslim nations adopt Arab alternative
Agence France-Presse . Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 08 March, 2025, 22:09

Supporters of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan hold placards during a rally in support of women in Gaza, to mark International Women’s Day in Lahore on Saturday. | AFP photo

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation formally adopted early Saturday an Arab League counter-proposal to US president Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its residents, calling on the international community to support the regional initiative.

The decision by the 57-member grouping came at an emergency meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, three days after the Arab League ratified the plan at a summit in Cairo.

The Egyptian-crafted alternative to Trump’s widely condemned takeover proposes to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.

The OIC ‘adopts the plan... on the early recovery and reconstruction of Gaza’, a communique said.

The body, which represents the Muslim world, urged ‘the international community and international and regional funding institutions to swiftly provide the necessary support for the plan’.

Trump triggered global outrage when he suggested the US ‘take over’ Gaza and turn it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’, while forcing its Palestinian inhabitants to relocate to Egypt or Jordan.

Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty welcomed the OIC endorsement and said he now hoped to gain support from the wider international community, including the US.

‘The next step is for the plan to become an international plan through adoption by the European Union and international parties such as Japan, Russia, China and others,’ Abdelatty said.

‘This is what we will seek and we have contact with all parties, including the American party.’

However, the Egyptian proposal—which does not outline a role for Hamas, which controls Gaza—has already been rejected by both the US and Israel.

The plan ‘does not meet the expectations’ of Washington, state department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters on Thursday.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, however, gave a more positive reaction, calling it a ‘good-faith first step from the Egyptians’.

Trump’s plan has united Arab countries in opposition, and Rabha Seif Allam, of the Al-Ahram centre for political and strategic studies in Cairo, said Egypt was seeking ‘broad support’ for its proposal.

‘This is an attempt to build a broad coalition that refuses the displacement’ of Palestinians from Gaza, she said.​

 

[Saif]

Israel carries out strike on Hamas in northern Gaza

Israel carried out an air strike on Hamas members in northern Gaza yesterday, rattling an already fragile ceasefire as it prepared for fresh talks in Doha on the future of its truce with Hamas.

www.thedailystar.net

Israel carries out strike on Hamas in northern Gaza
Hamas pushes for phase two of Gaza truce, stresses urgent need for aid to re-enter enclave
​

• Hamas's key demands for 2nd phase include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza​
• Israel wants an extension of truce's first phase until mid-April​

Israel carried out an air strike on Hamas members in northern Gaza yesterday, rattling an already fragile ceasefire as it prepared for fresh talks in Doha on the future of its truce with Hamas.

Hamas called for an immediate start to negotiations on the ceasefire's second phase, which it hopes will lead to a permanent end to the war.

Representatives of the Palestinian group met with mediators in Cairo over the weekend, stressing the urgent need for humanitarian aid to re-enter the besieged territory "without restrictions or conditions", according to a Hamas statement.

"Hamas stresses the urgency of forcing the occupation to immediately begin second-phase negotiations under the agreed parameters," senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told AFP, adding that this would pave the way for a permanent end to the war.

Hamas's key demands for the second phase include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an end to the Israeli blockade, the reconstruction of the Palestinian territory and financial support, Mardawi said. Following talks with mediators, Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said indicators were so far "positive".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it would send delegates to Doha today, while the Israeli media reported that the government's security cabinet was due to discuss the matter later yesterday.

Israel says that it wants an extension of the truce's first phase until mid-April.

The initial period of truce ended on March 1 after six weeks of relative calm that included the exchange of 25 living hostages and eight bodies for the release of about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The truce largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, where virtually the entire population was displaced by Israel's relentless military campaign.

It also enabled the flow of vital food and medical assistance into Gaza. After Israel cut off that flow again, UN rights experts accused the government of "weaponising starvation".​

 

[Saif]

Israel, Hamas signal readiness for next ceasefire talks

Hamas said there were "positive indicators" for the start of the ceasefire's second-phase talks but did not elaborate.

en.prothomalo.com

Israel, Hamas signal readiness for next ceasefire talks
Reuters
Published: 09 Mar 2025, 10: 23

Members of the Hamas security forces deploy in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on 19 January 2025, hours before a ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas was implemented. AFP

Israel and Hamas signalled on Saturday they were preparing for the next phase of ceasefire negotiations, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend the fragile 42-day truce that began in January.

Hamas said there were "positive indicators" for the start of the ceasefire's second-phase talks but did not elaborate.

Israel also said it was preparing for talks. "Israel has accepted the invitation of the mediators backed by the US, and will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

A delegation from Hamas is engaging in ceasefire talks in Cairo with Egyptian mediators who have been helping facilitate the talks along with officials from Qatar. They aim to proceed to the next stage of the deal, which could open the way to ending the war.

"We affirm our readiness to engage in the second-phase negotiations in a way that meets the demands of our people, and we call for intensified efforts to aid the Gaza Strip and lift the blockade on our suffering people," Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua said in a statement.

In a later statement reporting its delegation's meeting with the head of Egypt's general intelligence agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad, Hamas affirmed the group's approval of forming a committee of what it described as "national and independent" characters to run Gaza until elections.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi earlier said Cairo had worked in cooperation with Palestinians on creating an administrative committee of independent, professional Palestinian technocrats entrusted with the governance of Gaza after the end of the Israel-Gaza war.

His remarks came during the Arab summit which adopted Egypt's alternative reconstruction plan for Gaza, as opposed to US President Donald Trump's "Middle East Riviera" vision.

Even as diplomacy continued, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Rafah in southern Gaza on Saturday, medical sources said.

The Israeli military said its aircraft struck a drone that crossed from Israel into southern Gaza and "several suspects" who tried to collect it in what appeared to be a botched smuggling attempt.

The strike came after an Israeli drone strike killed two people in Gaza on Friday. The Israeli military said it attacked a group of suspected fighters operating near its troops in northern Gaza and planting an explosive device in the ground.

The Gaza ceasefire deal that took effect in January calls for the remaining 59 hostages in Hamas captivity to be freed in a second phase, during which final plans would be negotiated for an end to the war.

The first phase of the ceasefire ended last week. Israel has since imposed a total blockade on all goods entering the enclave, demanding that Hamas free the remaining hostages without beginning the negotiations to end the Gaza war.

Fighting has been halted since 19 January and Hamas has released 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.

Israel's assault on the enclave has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. It has also internally displaced nearly Gaza's entire population and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.

The assault began after Hamas-led Islamist fighters raided southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.​

 

[Saif]

Aid halt endangers Gaza civilians

Israel’s suspension of goods entering Gaza has begun to take a toll on the Palestinian enclave, with some bakeries closing and officials warning of growing risks to the environment including possible discharges of raw sewage into the sea.

www.thedailystar.net

Aid halt endangers Gaza civilians
Warns UN agency; PA says Israel’s electricity cut an ‘escalation in genocide’
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• Negotiators left for Doha to discuss truce: Israel​
• Hamas accuses Israel of reneging on ceasefire deal​

Israel's suspension of goods entering Gaza has begun to take a toll on the Palestinian enclave, with some bakeries closing and officials warning of growing risks to the environment including possible discharges of raw sewage into the sea.

The suspension, intended to pressure Hamas in ceasefire talks, applies to food, medicine and fuel imports. Hamas describes the measure as "collective punishment" and insists it will not be pushed into making concessions at the discussions.

The UN Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA said the decision to halt humanitarian aid threatens the lives of civilians exhausted by 17 months of "brutal" war, adding that most of Gaza's 2.3 million people were dependent on aid.

Nasser Al-Ajrami, head of the Gaza bakers' union, told Reuters that six out of the 22 bakeries still able to operate in the enclave had already shut after they ran out of cooking gas.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) yesterday said Israel's decision to halt the electricity supply to Gaza was "an escalation in the genocide" in the war-ravaged territory, reports AFP.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement that it "strongly condemns the Israeli Ministry of Energy's decision to cut electricity to the Gaza Strip, considering it an escalation in the genocide, displacement and humanitarian disaster in Gaza", which is controlled by Hamas and not the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.

Israel's negotiating team left for Qatar yesterday for talks aimed at extending the fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Hamas accused Israel of reneging on the ceasefire deal, saying in a statement yesterday Israel "refuses to commence the second phase, exposing its intentions of evasion and stalling".​

 

[Saif]

Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centres genocidal: UN

A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday that Israel carried out ‘genocidal’ acts in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.

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Israel attacks on Gaza reproductive centres genocidal: UN
Agence France-Presse . Geneva 13 March, 2025, 22:45

AFP file photo

A United Nations investigation concluded Thursday that Israel carried out ‘genocidal’ acts in Gaza through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities.

The UN Commission of Inquiry said Israel had ‘intentionally attacked and destroyed’ the Palestinian territory’s main fertility centre, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.

‘Israel categorically rejects the unfounded allegations,’ its mission in Geneva said in a statement.

The commission found that Israeli authorities ‘have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare’, it said in a statement.

It said this amounted to ‘two categories of genocidal acts’ during Israel’s offensive in Gaza, launched after the attacks by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The United Nations’ genocide convention defines that crime as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

Of its five categories, the inquiry said the two implicating Israel were ‘deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction’ and ‘imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group’.

‘These violations have not only caused severe immediate physical and mental harm and suffering to women and girls, but irreversible long-term effects on the mental health and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians as a group,’ the commission’s chair Navi Pillay said in a statement.

The three-person Independent International Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged international law violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Pillay, a former UN rights chief, served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Israel accused the commission of advancing a ‘predetermined and biased political agenda in a shameless attempt to incriminate the Israel Defence Forces’.

The report said maternity hospitals and wards had been systematically destroyed in Gaza, along with the Al-Basma IVF Centre, the territory’s main in-vitro fertility clinic.

It said Al-Basma was shelled in December 2023, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos at a clinic that served 2,000 to 3,000 patients a month.

The commission found that the Israeli Security Forces intentionally attacked and destroyed the clinic, including all the reproductive material stored for the future conception of Palestinians.

The commission found no credible evidence that the building was used for military purposes.

It concluded that the destruction ‘was a measure intended to prevent births among Palestinians in Gaza, which is a genocidal act’.

Furthermore, the report said the wider harm to pregnant, lactating and new mothers in Gaza was on an ‘unprecedented scale’, with an irreversible impact on the reproductive prospects of Gazans.

Such underlying acts ‘amount to crimes against humanity’ and deliberately trying to destroy the Palestinians as a group, the commission concluded.

The report came after the commission conducted public hearings in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, hearing from victims and witnesses of sexual violence.

It concluded that Israel had targeted civilian women and girls directly, ‘acts that constitute the crime against humanity of murder and the war crime of wilful killing’.

Women and girls have also died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to the conditions imposed by the Israeli authorities impacting access to reproductive health care, ‘acts that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination’, it added.

The commission added that forced public stripping and nudity, sexual harassment including threats of rape, as well as sexual assault, comprise part of the Israeli Security Forces’ ‘standard operating procedures’ toward Palestinians.​

 

[Saif]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/world/us-and-israel-look-to-africa-to-resettle-palestinians-from-gaza-ap-says

US and Israel look to Africa to resettle Palestinians from Gaza, AP says
REUTERS
Published :
Mar 14, 2025 18:00
Updated :
Mar 14, 2025 18:20

Palestinians pass by the rubble of destroyed houses, in Gaza City, March 11, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/Files

The US and Israel have contacted officials from Sudan, Somalia and its breakaway region of Somaliland to discuss using their territory for resettling Palestinians from Gaza, the Associated Press reported on Friday, citing US and Israeli officials.

Sudan officials said they rejected the proposal by the United States, and officials from Somalia and Somaliland said they were unaware of any contacts, AP reported.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The information ministers for Somalia and Somaliland did not answer telephone calls by Reuters seeking comment.

The foreign ministry of Sudan, a country dealing with a devastating civil war that has displaced 12 million of its own people and spread famine, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians from the enclave, in contrast to US President Donald Trump's vision of a "Middle East Riviera".

They included the leaders of both Sudan and Somalia.

Trump has proposed a US takeover of the Gaza Strip to reconstruct the destroyed enclave, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians should be permanently displaced.

Trump's plan reinforced long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes, and was met with widespread international rejection.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in the military offensive Israel launched in response, according to Gaza health officials.​

 

[Saif]

Hamas says ready to free hostage, remains of 4 others

Hamas on Friday said it was ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four other dual nationals, after the Palestinian militants and Israel gathered for indirect Gaza ceasefire talks.

www.newagebd.net

Hamas says ready to free hostage, remains of 4 others
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 14 March, 2025, 21:30

An Israeli policeman checks a woman’s bag at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as Muslim worshippers gather for Friday noon prayers in Jerusalem on Friday, during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Hamas on Friday said it was ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four other dual nationals, after the Palestinian militants and Israel gathered for indirect Gaza ceasefire talks.

The first phase of a truce between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip ended on March 1 without agreement on the next stages. A senior Hamas official said on Tuesday fresh talks had begun in Doha, with Israel also sending negotiators.

‘Yesterday, a Hamas leadership delegation received a proposal from the brotherly mediators to resume negotiations,’ the Islamist movement said in a statement.

It added that its reply ‘included its agreement to release the Israeli soldier Edan Alexander, who holds American citizenship, along with the remains of four others holding dual citizenship’.

A Hamas official, Taher al-Nounou, said that ‘the five individuals that Hamas agreed to release under the new American proposal are Israeli prisoners holding American nationality.’

During the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire, militants released 33 hostages, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for about 1,800 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons.

Militants also released five Thai captives outside the accord.

Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase of the ceasefire but Hamas has insisted on talks for the second phase of the deal which the United States, Qatar and Egypt had mediated and took effect on January 19.

Despite the expiry of the first phase, the ceasefire has largely held.

Israel’s military on Thursday said it carried out an air strike targeting militants who were planting explosives in central Gaza, the latest such strike.

Israel halted aid flows into Gaza 13 days ago over the truce impasse. At the weekend, it also cut off the electricity supply, which largely halted output from Gaza’s main water desalination plant.

On Thursday Hamas renewed a demand for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Gaza, accusing Israel of seeking to breach the ceasefire in talks on the next phase of the accord.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said that Israeli forces should have pulled out of a strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border under the first phase.

Hamas has accused Israel of keeping troops in the strategic Philadelphi corridor. Israel has insisted it needs to maintain control of the corridor to prevent weapons smuggling into the Palestinian territory from Egypt.

Former US president Joe Biden had outlined a second phase involving the release of remaining living hostages, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces left in Gaza, and establishment of a permanent ceasefire.

Qassem indicated the corridor had become one of the sticking points at the Doha talks.

‘Reports indicate new proposals are being presented aimed at circumventing the Gaza agreement,’ he said.

‘Meetings are continuing with mediators in Doha. We adhere to what was agreed upon and to entering into the second phase.’

But he insisted Israel must also fulfil its obligations ‘withdrawing from the entire Gaza Strip’ and ‘begin the withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor’ for any second phase deal to end the war that started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel.

‘Israel has not implemented the humanitarian protocol of the Gaza agreement,’ Qassem said.

‘We do not want to return to war again, and if the occupation resumes its aggression, we have no choice but to defend our people,’ the spokesman said.

Israeli media said on Thursday that Israel had called for several living and dead hostages — from the 58 still in Gaza — to be handed over in exchange for a 50-day extension to the ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the reports ‘fake news’.

Hamas’ October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, while Israel’s military retaliation in Gaza killed more than 48,500, according to data from both sides.​