- Hamas accuses Israel of gravely endangering Gaza truce over prisoner delay
GAZA/WASHINGTON: Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special Middle East envoy, said on Sunday that teh US expects phase two of the Gaza ceasefire agreement to proceed, when asked about Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, Al Jazeera reports.
“We have to get an extension of phase one,” Witkoff said during in a CNN interview. “I’ll be going to the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that.”
On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is prepared to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip “at any moment” while vowing to complete the operation’s objectives “whether through negotiation or by other means”, AFP reports.
“We are prepared to resume intense fighting at any moment,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony for combat officers, a day after Israel halted the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a truce deal.
“In Gaza, we have eliminated most of Hamas’s organised forces, but let there be no doubt — we will complete the war’s objectives entirely — whether through negotiation or by other means,” he added.
Israeli sniper kills young man in Gaza City
A young Palestinian man was killed by Israeli long-range gunfire while inspecting his agricultural land on al-Shaaf Street, east of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave, Al Jazeera reports according to the Wafa news agency.
A video verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad shows a man being transferred to hospital after being shot by Israeli forces in the Saudi neighbourhood, west of Rafah in southern Gaza earlier today.
Israeli opposition leader accuses Netanyahu of violating Gaza ceasefire deal
An Israeli opposition leader accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of violating the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement after delaying the release of Palestinian detainees, Anadolu reports.
“Netanyahu ordered the delay in the release of the prisoners, blatantly violating the agreement and sabotaging the first phase, just as we warned,” Yair Golan, leader of the Israeli Democratic Party, said on X. “There are no actual negotiations for the second phase, only deceit and abandonment of the lives of the captives,” he said.
Golan, a vocal critic of Netanyahu’s government, vowed that the Israeli opposition will not allow the prime minister to remain in office “at the expense of our brothers and sisters”.
“I say to you, Bibi, if you sabotage the deal, all hell will break loose,” he stated.
Hamas accuses Israel of gravely endangering Gaza truce over prisoner delay
Meanwhile, Hamas has accused Israel of placing the Gaza truce in grave danger after the government delayed the release of Palestinian prisoners due to be freed, a day after the Palestinian group released six Israeli captives, AFP reports.
“What the enemy government is doing by postponing the release of our prisoners according to the agreement is behaving like thugs and exposes the entire agreement to grave danger,” senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told AFP, calling on the mediators, “especially the United States” to pressure Israel “to implement the agreement as it is and immediately release this batch of prisoners. “
