Israel accuses Hamas of violating ceasefire, will cut aid to Gaza – National

Israel said it would limit aid Gaza and kept the enclave’s border closed Tuesday as it rose again Hamas fighters showed their grip by executing men in the streets, clouding prospects for US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed late Tuesday that authorities had received four deceased hostages that the Red Cross handed over to Israeli military authorities in Gaza.

The latest transfer of remains took place a day after Israel received the bodies of four other dead hostages. Despite the development, it was unclear whether the Israeli military agency, known as COGAT, would follow through with its decision to allow only half of the 600 aid trucks required by the deal into Gaza.

The Israeli unit told the United Nations that only 300 aid trucks will be allowed in from Wednesday, and that no fuel or gas will be allowed except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure, according to a note seen by Reuters and confirmed by the United Nations.

The note said the restrictions were taken because “Hamas had violated the agreement on the release of the hostages’ bodies.”

“We have seen the communications from COGAT and we encourage all parties to adhere to the parameters and agreements set out in the ceasefire,” said Eri Kaneko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

“We also hope that the remains of all deceased hostages will be returned and that the implementation of the ceasefire will progress.”

Trump said on Tuesday that phase two of the ceasefire is now beginning, but also noted the delay in the transfer of the deceased.

“THE DEAD HAVE NOT RETURNED AS PROMISED! Phase Two Begins NOW!!!” he said in a post on Truth Social.

Trump also warned Hamas that if “they don’t disarm, we will disarm them.”

Hamas, which seized Gaza in 2007 during a brief civil war, has quickly retaken the streets of Gaza’s urban areas following the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces last week.

In a video circulating late Monday, Hamas fighters dragged seven men with their hands tied behind their backs into a Gaza City square, forced them to their knees and shot them from behind as dozens of onlookers watched from nearby storefronts.

A Hamas source confirmed that the video was recorded on Monday and that Hamas fighters took part in the executions. Reuters was able to confirm the location using visible geographic features.

Trump has previously given Hamas his blessing to reassert some control over Gaza, at least temporarily. Israeli officials have so far refrained from publicly commenting on the reemergence of the group’s fighters.

On Monday, Trump declared the Israeli parliament’s “historic dawn of a new Middle East” as Israel and Hamas exchanged the last twenty living Israeli hostages in Gaza for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and prisoners.

Before the last hostages’ bodies were handed over to the Red Cross, Hamas had handed over four coffins containing dead hostages, leaving at least 23 suspected dead and one missing in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza residents said Hamas fighters became increasingly visible on Tuesday, deploying along routes needed for aid deliveries. Palestinian security officials said dozens of people have been killed in clashes between Hamas fighters and rivals in recent days.

Meanwhile, Israel, using aerial drones, killed five Palestinians as they went to check houses in a suburb east of Gaza City. An Israeli airstrike killed one person and injured another near Khan Younis, Gaza health authorities said.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The Israeli army said it had shot at people who crossed the ceasefire lines and approached its forces after ignoring calls to return.

A summit co-hosted by Trump in Egypt on Monday ended without any public announcement of major progress toward establishing an international military force for Gaza, or a new governing body.

Popular now

• Ford says there should be no way to eliminate tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

• Alec Baldwin and brother Stephen crash a car into a tree in the Hamptons

Gaza City and surrounding areas are suffering from a famine that has affected more than half a million Palestinians, but aid trucks have yet to enter Gaza at the expected rate of hundreds per day. Plans have yet to be implemented to open the border crossing into Egypt and release some Gazans, initially to evacuate the wounded for medical treatment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that the war cannot end until Hamas surrenders its weapons and cedes control of Gaza, a demand the fighters have rejected.

Hamas sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the group would no longer tolerate violations of order in Gaza and would target collaborators, armed looters and drug dealers.

The group, although greatly weakened after two years of Israeli bombings and ground incursions, has gradually reasserted itself since the ceasefire took effect.

It has deployed hundreds of workers to clear debris from routes needed to access damaged or destroyed homes, and to repair broken water pipes. Greater relief efforts will also require road clearance and safety equipment.

The ceasefire ended two years of devastating warfare in Gaza sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in which Hamas-led gunmen killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza killed nearly 68,000 people, according to local health authorities, while thousands more were feared dead in the rubble. Gaza’s Civil Protection Service said 250 bodies have been recovered since the ceasefire began.

Parts of Gaza are in ruins and the global hunger monitor said the area was in famine in August. Thousands of Gazans have returned to their homes since the ceasefire, many with entire streets bombed to dust.

—Additional files from Global News and the Associated Press