GAZA: Israeli fire killed at least two people in Rafah and injured three others in Khan Yunis in the south of Gaza, raising fears among Palestinians that the ceasefire could collapse altogether after Israel imposed a total blockade on the shattered enclave. A first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas that began in January ended over the weekend with no agreement on what will happen next. Hamas says an agreed second phase must now begin, leading to a permanent Israeli withdrawal and an end to the war. Israel has instead offered a temporary extension into April, with Hamas to release more hostages in return for Palestinian detainees, without immediate talks on Gaza's future.
Later on Monday, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said Israel's demand to extend the first phase of the ceasefire was pushing things back to "square zero". "The mediators and guarantors bear full responsibility for preventing (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu from sabotaging all efforts made to reach the agreement and for protecting the agreement from collapsing," said Hamdan in a news conference. Two Israeli government officials said mediators had asked Israel for a few more days to resolve the standoff.
Israel raised the stakes on Sunday by imposing a total blockade on all supplies, including food and fuel, to sustain the 2.3 million Gazans living among the ruins after the 15-month conflict.
Hundreds of lorries carrying supplies were backed up in Egypt and denied permission to enter. Gaza residents said shops had been swiftly emptied of all supplies and the price of a sack of flour had more than doubled overnight.
"Where will our food come from?" said Salah al Hajj Hassan, a resident in Jabalia, on Gaza's northern edge where families have returned to destroyed homes to live in the rubble. "We are dying, and we don't want war or the alarm bells of displacement or the alarm bells of starving our children."
Residents said Israeli tanks stationed near the eastern and southern borders of Gaza intensified gunfire and tank shelling into the outskirts throughout the night. A Palestinian official with a group allied to Hamas said that a state of alert had been declared among fighters. At least two people were killed by Israeli drone fire in Rafah, and three people were wounded by a helicopter that fired on Khan Yunis, medics said.
In a statement, the Israeli military said its forces fired at a motorboat in the coastal area of Khan Yunis, violating security restrictions in the area and posing a threat. The military said in another incident in southern Gaza, its forces identified two suspects who were moving towards them and posing a threat. Israeli forces "fired at the suspects to eliminate the threat and identified casualties," it said.
The Gaza interior ministry called on residents to provide information about merchants raising food prices in the wake of the new blockade. Tamer al Burai, a Gaza businessman, said that with shops suddenly empty, the price of a sack of flour had risen to 100 shekels ($28) from 40 shekels. Prices for cooking oil, fuel and vegetables had also surged. "It is catastrophic and things might become worse if the ceasefire isn't resumed or there is no intervention by the local authorities against greedy merchants," he said. Salama Marouf, head of the Gaza government media office, urged Gazans not to panic, saying there was enough food in markets for at least two weeks. The economy ministry had initiated an effort to compel merchants not to increase prices.
Aid agencies have warned that goods could spoil and that they don't have limitless means to stockpile goods on the Gaza border. "Aid is arriving at our warehouses every day... We have warehouse capacity for now, but we cannot be sure how long that will continue," operations coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross in Egypt Jurgen Hogl, said. Israel's onslaught has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and displaced most of the population. — Reuters
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