The decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is a war crime and a direct violation of the ceasefire agreement, the Palestinian movement said on Sunday.
"Netanyahu's decision to halt humanitarian aid is a blatant act of blackmail, a war crime and a severe violation of the agreement. Mediators and the international community should act to put pressure on the occupation authorities to stop its punitive and immoral activities, which target over two million people in the Gaza Strip," Hamas said.
The Palestinian movement accused Netanyahu of trying to use the agreement to promote his own political interests while sacrificing the lives of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
"Claims ... about the movement's violations of the ceasefire are ungrounded and misleading; they are aimed at concealing its [Israel's] daily and systematic violations of the agreement, which led to the deaths of over 100 citizens of Gaza and undermined the implementation of the humanitarian protocol, worsening the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," Hamas said.
Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement on all three phases and its readiness to start negotiations on the second phase of the agreement.
The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire expired on Saturday after 42 days. Israel said that US President Donald Trump's envoy Witkoff had suggested a new plan for a temporary truce in Gaza. Israel agreed to this plan, while Hamas did not.
Israel, which halted the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza after Hamas rejected a new plan for the ceasefire, believes that Hamas has accumulated enough humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip in the past six weeks of the truce to last it for up to six months, Israeli Channel 12 reported on Sunday.
Israel estimates that relief aid stored by Hamas in its warehouses is enough to last it for 4–6 months, the broadcaster pointed out.
Witkoff's plan included prolongation of the ceasefire for the periods of Ramadan and Passover - for 1.5 months. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year began at sunset on February 28 and ends on March 29, while the Jewish holiday of Passover will be celebrated from April 12 to 19. The plan said that half of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, dead or alive, were to be released on the first day of the new ceasefire. If an agreement of permanent ceasefire is reached, all the remaining hostages are also to be released.