Updates: Israel blocks all aid into Gaza after first phase of truce ends

You can read our news story on Israel’s decision to cut humanitarian aid to Gaza here.

Before you go, you can also read about Israel threatening a second Nakba even as it denies the first ever happened.

And you can read this article on Israel’s report on its military’s failures on October 7, 2023, here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s main events:

• Israel has blocked humanitarian aid entering Gaza, leading to fears of food shortages in the Palestinian enclave. Israel says Hamas must agree to extend phase one of the ceasefire, reneging on the agreed-upon deal between the two parties.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu has said Israel is adopting what he called a US plan for a six-week extension of phase one. There has been no official confirmation from the US that the extension plan came from Washington.
• Hamas has repeated that the group will not accept the extension and stressed that the process should now proceed to the second phase.
• The EU as well as various countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan, have criticised Israel for blocking humanitarian aid going into Gaza.

Palestinian photographer Fatima Jarrar shared a video from Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, showing the state Israeli soldiers left a residential apartment in after they had occupied it for weeks.

Private property had been rummaged through and was strewn across the apartment, with several pieces of furniture broken, and old food left across the rooms. A Star of David had also been spray painted across one of the walls.

Israel has been conducting a military operation in Jenin since January 21 and has sent tanks into the Jenin refugee camp in a move not seen since 2002, at the height of the Second Intifada. At least 26 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its attack on Jenin, and tens of thousands have been forced to flee.

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A post shared by Fatoom Jarrar Photography (@fatoomjarrarphotography)

Translation: Part of the destruction and vandalism caused by the army in the al-Rabee building after being centred on it for 41 days.

Since 2017, the Retno Hotel has housed patients and their family members from Gaza during their medical visits to Istishari Hospital, a 10-minute taxi ride away.

It is among a network of accommodations – mostly hotels, but also lodgings including UNRWA facilities – housing Palestinians granted temporary permits by Israel to leave Gaza to receive medical treatment in West and occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. The treatment is covered by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Health.

When the war began, the permit arrangements for patients from Gaza quickly broke down. Those in hospitals in Jerusalem had to leave, fleeing to the occupied West Bank where they scrambled to register with the PA and find a new hospital. None were able to return to Gaza.

“The people [were] very afraid of the future,” recalled Nawaf of his guests.

Today, 400 patients from Gaza are currently registered with the PA with some staying in Ramallah as well as in Hebron, 60km (37 miles) to the south, and Nablus and Jenin, less than 100km (62km) to the north.

Over the months, more patients have moved into the Retno. Today, it is a temporary home to 33 adult and 14 child patients, and 37 family members. Seven patients at the hotel have died of their illnesses since the war started. As the others continue to fight their health battles, their family members have been killed and their homes and former lives destroyed.

Read more here.

The bloc has condemned what it called Hamas’s rejection of the extension of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, adding Israel’s subsequent aid blockade “risked humanitarian consequences”.

“The EU calls for a rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, and expresses its strong support to the mediators,” Anouar El Anouni, the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement.

“A permanent ceasefire would contribute to the release of all remaining Israeli hostages while ensuring the necessary conditions for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza to begin,” El Anouni said, adding: “All parties have a political responsibility to make this a reality.”

Palestinians in Gaza were supposed to enter the holy month of Ramadan, as the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas got under way.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government now wants to renegotiate the terms.

Israel is pressuring Hamas to extend the first phase of the ceasefire in exchange for releasing half of the remaining 59 captives. And it has again cut off aid and supplies to Gaza.

Hamas is accusing Israel of carrying out a coup against the existing deal and is urging the international community to act.

So can the ceasefire be salvaged?

Watch the latest episode of Inside Story, with political analyst Xavier Abu Eid; former US ambassador to Egypt and Turkiye Francis Ricciardone; and the Middle East director of the International Communities Organization, Gershon Baskin.

A recap of recent developments:

• Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi has reiterated to Al Jazeera Arabic that the group will not agree to any extension of the first phase of the truce deal with Israel – which has expired – and insisted that the ceasefire now proceed to the second phase.
• Various countries, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan, have condemned Israel for cutting humanitarian aid going into Gaza.
• Israeli reports say the country’s government is planning to also cut electricity and water supplies into Gaza as the next move.
• Israeli PM Netanyahu has thanked US President Donald Trump for sending munitions held up by the previous administration after a change of policy in Washington.

The Israeli prime minister has thanked the US president for sending munitions held up by the previous administration.

“Donald Trump is the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House,” Netanyahu said in a video statement in English.

He added: “He’s shown it by sending us all the munitions that were being held up. This way he is giving Israel the tools we need to finish the job against Iran’s terror axis.”

Trump and Netanyahu have long expressed their opposition to Iran, its nuclear programme and its allies, which include Hamas.

On Saturday, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had signed a declaration to expedite about $4bn in military assistance to Israel, adding that a partial arms embargo imposed under former President Joe Biden had been reversed.

Qatar has strongly condemned Israel’s decision to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the move a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all religious laws.

It also expressed its unequivocal rejection of using food as a weapon of war and starving civilians.

The ministry called on the international community to compel Israel to ensure the safe, sustainable, and unobstructed entry of humanitarian aid to all areas of Gaza.

Palestinians in Gaza have already experienced months of starvation, worrying about where they were going to get their next meal from in light of Israel’s war on the enclave and restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid.

After the ceasefire began in January, there has been some respite – one of the stipulations of the deal was that Israel significantly increase the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into the enclave.

But now, after Israel announced that it would block humanitarian aid entering Gaza, shops are overcrowded as Palestinians attempt to gather what they can out of fear that the store shelves will quickly empty.

One man said that Israel was playing “psychological war” on people in Gaza, while one child pointed out that the price of a tray of eggs had already risen from 20 to 30 shekels ($5.56 to $8.34).

The Palestinian Ministry of Interior has called for calm, and asked that people avoid stockpiling food, adding that basic commodities were all available. The ministry also called on traders to not exploit customers by hiking prices.

As Israel mulls its next moves following its decision to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, in violation of the ceasefire deal it agreed with Hamas, reports are now emerging that the Israelis are planning to also cut electricity and water supplies.

That would drastically worsen the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but according to the Israel Hayom newspaper, the government is willing to cut electricity and water if Hamas does not agree to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal, instead of moving on to phase two.

The newspaper reported that mediators have been given a few days to persuade Hamas to bend to Israel’s demands, but that PM Benjamin Netanyahu was not prepared to agree to ending the war because that would mean Hamas remaining in power.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel 14 is reporting that Energy Minister Eli Cohen is planning to request a stop to the supply of electricity to Gaza in the next cabinet meeting.

The country’s Foreign Ministry has “condemned in the strongest terms” the move as “a flagrant violation” of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 regarding the protection of civilians in times of war.

Sufyan al-Qudah, the ministry’s spokesperson, affirmed that the Israeli government’s decision constitutes “a blatant breach of the ceasefire agreement”, threatening to reignite the situation in Gaza.

Al-Qudah stressed the necessity for Israel to cease using starvation as a weapon against Palestinians, particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

He called on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities, and oblige Israel to adhere to the ceasefire agreement.

A convoy of Syrian security forces has entered Jaramana – a city where the majority of the population is Druze – after days of unrest following the killing of a security officer during clashes between local residents and security forces.

Video from Jaramana verified by Al Jazeera shows locals gathered around the convoy and appearing to celebrate its arrival.

As we mentioned earlier, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, has threatened to intervene in Syria “in defence” of the Druze minority, although religious leaders from the community denounced the killing of the officer as the actions of “an undisciplined mob”.

In a statement on X, the consulate has urged “all parties to engage constructively in negotiating the subsequent phases of the ceasefire deal”.

It added that this is “to help ensure its full implementation and a permanent end to hostilities”.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned against Israeli authorities’ initiation of procedures to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank under the pretext of establishing a “Greater Jerusalem”.

It said in a statement that Israeli authorities’ discussions surrounding annexation, and efforts to put it to a vote in the Knesset, are “major crimes” that fall within systematic policies to displace Palestinians and destroy the foundations of their life with the ultimate goal of undermining a two-state solution.

The ministry said it will continue to internationally follow up on the issue, and called for “serious international action” to prevent the devastating impacts of such a move on prospects of peaceful resolution of the conflict.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not decide on whether to resume the war on Gaza until after a visit by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff had planned to travel to Israel last week, but the trip was delayed, and it is unclear when he will visit.

Walid Jumblatt added at a news conference on Sunday that he would visit Syria soon, and accused Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sowing sectarian division in the country.

“In Syria, there is a plot for sabotage. There is a plot for sabotage in the region and for the Arabs’ national security,” Jumblatt said.

Israel has expanded into southern Syria since the December overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, and Netanyahu recently said that Israel would not allow Syrian forces into areas south of Damascus.

Israel has used the security of Syria’s minority Druze population as a pretext for its most recent threats, particularly after clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian security forces in a suburb of Damascus. Many Syrian Druze have rejected Israel’s attempts to speak on their behalf, and protests have been held in the Druze-majority province of Sweida against Israeli air strikes in Syria.

Israel has its own Druze minority, who are largely pro-Israel, with the men conscripted into the Israeli military. However, the vast majority of Druze in neighbouring countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, are pro-Palestinian.