Israel accuses Hamas of violating the ceasefire and will work to reduce aid to Gaza – Al-Wataniya

Israel It restricted aid to Gaza and kept the Strip’s borders closed on Tuesday while it resurfaced agitation The fighters showed their fist by executing men in the streets, darkening the outlook for US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.

Israel informed the United Nations that it would only allow 300 aid trucks to enter Gaza – half the agreed daily number – starting Wednesday, no fuel or gas will be allowed in, except for specific needs related to humanitarian infrastructure, according to a memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by the United Nations.

Note from COGAT, arm IsraelThe army, which oversees the flow of aid into Gaza, said the restrictions were imposed because “Hamas violated the agreement regarding the release of hostage bodies.”

“We have reviewed the communications of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and we encourage all parties to adhere to the standards and agreements stipulated in the ceasefire,” said Eri Kaneko, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

He added: “We also hope that the remains of all deceased hostages will be returned and that the implementation of the ceasefire agreement will move forward.”

U.S. officials and international relief organizations have also been notified, according to three AP sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. The Israeli government did not immediately comment.

Trump said on Tuesday that the second phase of the ceasefire agreement has now begun, but he also pointed to the delay in handing over the dead.

“The dead have not been brought back, as promised! Phase 2 starts now!!!” he said in a post on Truth Social.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said on Friday that he expected about 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza daily during the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Hamas quickly reclaimed the urban streets of Gaza, following the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces last week.

In a video broadcast late Monday, Hamas fighters dragged seven men with their hands tied behind their backs into a Gaza City square, forced them to kneel and shot them in the back, while dozens of onlookers watched the events from nearby storefronts.

A Hamas source confirmed that the video was filmed on Monday and that Hamas fighters participated in the executions. Reuters was able to confirm the location through visual geographical features.

Trump has given his blessing to Hamas to reassert some control over Gaza, at least temporarily. Israeli officials, who say any final settlement must permanently disarm Hamas, have so far refrained from commenting publicly on the resurgence of the movement’s fighters.

The US President on Monday declared to the Israeli parliament the “historic dawn of a new Middle East,” as Israel and Hamas were exchanging the last 20 surviving Israeli hostages in Gaza for nearly 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners.

But so far, Hamas has delivered only four coffins of dead hostages, leaving at least 23 dead and one missing, still in the Gaza Strip.

An official involved in the operation told Reuters that the movement informed the mediators that it would begin transporting four more bodies to Israel as of 1900 GMT on Tuesday.

Aid trucks have not yet been allowed to enter Gaza at the full expected rate of hundreds per day, and plans to open the crossing into Egypt to allow some Gazans to exit, initially to evacuate the wounded for medical treatment, have not yet been implemented.

Hamas’s public return to control of Gaza’s streets highlights the obstacles to progress from an initial ceasefire — the first phase of Trump’s plan — to a permanent settlement that would prevent fighting from breaking out again.

Gaza residents said Hamas fighters became increasingly visible on Tuesday and deployed along roads needed to deliver aid.

Palestinian security sources said that dozens of people were killed in clashes between Hamas fighters and its rivals in recent days.

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Meanwhile, Israeli drone fire killed five people as they headed to inspect homes in an eastern suburb of Gaza City, and Gaza health authorities said an airstrike killed one person and wounded another near Khan Yunis.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. The Israeli army said that it opened fire on people who crossed the armistice lines and approached its forces after ignoring calls to return.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently stressed that the war cannot end until Hamas gives up its weapons and stops controlling Gaza, a demand that the fighters have rejected, torpedoing all previous peace efforts.

Hamas sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the movement would not tolerate further regime violations in Gaza and would target collaborators, armed robbers and drug traffickers.

Although this group was greatly weakened after two years of Israeli bombing and ground incursions, it has gradually begun to reassert itself since the ceasefire took effect.

It has deployed hundreds of workers to begin clearing debris on main roads needed to reach damaged or destroyed housing, and to repair broken water pipes. Roads will also be needed to be cleared and security provided to increase aid delivery.

The ceasefire ended two years of devastating war in Gaza stemming from the October 7, 2023 attack in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli statistics.

The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 68,000 people, according to local health authorities, and thousands are feared to have died under the rubble. The Gaza Civil Defense Service said that 250 bodies had been recovered since the start of the truce.

Large areas of Gaza were turned into rubble, and the World Hunger Monitor said in August that there was famine in the Strip. Thousands of Gazans have returned to their homes since the ceasefire, and many have found entire streets bombarded with dust.

– Additional files from international news