Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 03.03.2025
According to “Israel today” the Lebanese newspaper “Al-Akhbar” reported this morning (Monday) that the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement in Gaza are facing “increasing complications”. Egyptian officials estimated that the Israeli escalation came “as an attempt to exert heavy pressure” on Hamas to extend the first phase of the hostage deal, without moving to the second phase, which should include the end of the war.
An Egyptian source said: “Talks with Washington are still ongoing in this regard.” According to him, the American envoy Steven Witkoff “may arrive as soon as possible”. The source added that “the door is completely open to the possibility of escalation at this time. This is in light of the Israeli threat of returning to fighting once again. This is something that Washington has not acted to practically prevent until now.”
An Egyptian source said: “Talks with Washington are still ongoing in this regard.” According to him, the American envoy Steven Witkoff “may arrive as soon as possible”. The source added that “the door is completely open to the possibility of escalation at the present time. This is in light of the Israeli threat of returning to fighting once again. This is something that Washington has not acted to practically prevent until now.”
At the same time, a senior member of the Palestinian resistance organizations told the Qatari newspaper “Al-Arabi Al-Jadid” that the joint war room in Gaza agreed to raise the alert level of the fighters in order to “prepare for all scenarios” in the near future. The senior claimed that instructions had been issued to the fighters holding the Israeli hostages.
Tighten the procedures and return to previous instructions from before the first stage of the transaction. Last night in an interview with “Al Jazeera” senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi was asked about the extension of the first phase of the deal: “We insist on implementing the agreement in full. The Zionist public must know for sure that the only way to release the abductees is through negotiations and reaching an agreement”
The Zionist government decided not only to stop sending the trucks but to cut off electricity and water in Gaza. Back to the starvation of the Gazan which is another war crime.
Even the NYT writes that: “The move by Israel was apparently part of a bid to force Hamas into accepting an extension of a cease-fire and releasing more hostages Israel on Sunday announced that it would stop all goods and humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, a draconian move that disrupted the existing, agreed-upon framework for negotiating a permanent end to the war. The decision came a day after the end of the first phase of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel announced the halt to the flow of humanitarian assistance and goods hours after his government proposed a seven-week extension of the temporary cease-fire, at the start of which it said that Hamas would have to release half the remaining living hostages as well as the remains of half the deceased ones.” [i]
Down with the Zionist monster!
For Palestine, red and free from the river to the sea!
Endnote:
[i] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/world/middleeast/israel-aid-halt-gaza.html