Israel has come under fire from the UN and a number of Arab nations for preventing all humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli action on Sunday was deemed “alarming” by UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher, while Egypt and Qatar claimed it broke a ceasefire agreement.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas was stealing the supplies and using them “to finance its terror machine” as the reason for the country’s action.
Additionally, he charged that the Palestinian organization had turned down a US proposal to prolong the ceasefire in Gaza, which had ended on Saturday. Israel declared that the plan was approved.
Israel’s blockade was described as a “coup” against the ceasefire agreement and “cheap blackmail” by a Hamas spokesperson.
The ceasefire agreement allowed the release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for roughly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, ending 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that it “strongly condemns” the Israeli decision, calling it “international humanitarian law” and “a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement.”
According to the AFP news agency, Egypt’s foreign ministry charged that Israel was using famine as “a weapon against the Palestinian people.”
The ceasefire deal in Gaza was mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
According to the foreign ministry, Saudi Arabia has “condemned and denounced” the Israeli aid blockade.
In a post on X, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher stated: “International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid.”
According to Netanyahu, Israel took action “because Hamas steals the supplies and keeps the Gazan people from getting them.”
“We cannot accept that it uses these supplies to fund its terror machine, which is directly targeting Israel and our civilians.”
In the past, Hamas has denied stealing aid for Gaza.
Additionally, Netanyahu claimed that Hamas was rejecting a short-term extension of the ceasefire that US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, had suggested.
On January 19, the ceasefire’s first phase went into effect, and it ended on Saturday at midnight.
Phase two negotiations, which were supposed to begin weeks ago and would result in a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages still alive, and the evacuation of Israeli forces from Gaza, have only just begun.
Twenty-four hostages are thought to be still alive, while the remaining 39 are thought to be dead.
Phase three will see the reconstruction of Gaza, which is anticipated to take years, and the return of all dead hostage bodies.
In the past, Hamas has stated that it will not consent to any extension of phase one unless the mediators provide assurances that phase two will eventually occur.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel had accepted Witkoff’s suggestion that the ceasefire last for roughly six weeks during the Jewish Passover and Muslim Ramadan holidays, as the first phase of the agreement came to an end on Saturday.
Israel would reserve the right to return to war if, at the conclusion of this time, negotiations came to a standstill.
Witkoff hasn’t disclosed his plan to the public. Israel says it would start with the release of half of all the hostages, both dead and alive.
Israel claims that after Witkoff became convinced that more time was required to try to resolve the differences between Israel and Hamas on terms for ending the war, he proposed the temporary extension.
