Israel has restarted its siege on the Gaza Strip, banning entry of goods and aid into the enclave, after phase one of the ceasefire ended without an agreement to move into the second phase of the deal.
Israel instead said it would extend the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in a US-backed plan that proposed the release of half the remaining Israeli captives for the extension.Â
Hamas rejected the extension, reiterated its demands to move onto the second phase of the ceasefire, which would see a permanent end to the war, and labelled the siege on the enclave “cheap blackmail, a war crime and a blatant coup against the (ceasefire) agreement”.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who voted against the ceasefire in a cabinet meeting, said the decision was an “important step in the right direction”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu further threatened “additional consequences” if Hamas did not agree to the plan to extend phase one of the deal.
The banning of goods into Gaza coincides with the start of Ramadan, the Islamic hoy month which sees Muslims fast from sunrise until sunset.Â
According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli shelling on Beit Hanoun on Sunday morning in northern Gaza killed one Palestinian and wounded others.
