Key points
- Hamas seeks aid to be allowed to enter Gaza
- Trump has threatened to displace Palestinians
- Israel steps up pressure on Hamas for hostages’ release
ISLAMABAD: Amid stalled cease-fire talks, Israel is reportedly planning another invasion of the Gaza Strip, risking to plunge the region into a full-blown conflict yet again.
Israel’s war on Gaza has reduced almost all of the besieged enclave to rubble, killing thousands of Palestinian civilians and displacing millions.
The 16-month war only paused after a truce mediated by Qatar and Egypt with the backing of global powers came into effect.
However, the ceasefire deal is facing a risk of collapse since Israel has refused to enter the second phase of the deal, contrary to Hamas, which has called for immediate resumption of talks on the next step to permanent ceasefire.
President Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff have threatened a return to war in the Gaza Strip if Hamas doesn’t release its remaining hostages. According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel is already plotting out how that would happen.
War in the offing
Israel has drafted plans for a series of escalatory steps to gradually ratchet up pressure on Hamas now that talks to extend a seven-week cease-fire have stalled, plans that could lead to a resumption of hostilities in the 16-month war in the Gaza Strip, the US publication reported.
Israel’s Defence Minister, Israel Katz, has warned that if Hamas fails to release Israeli hostages, the country will resume its war, and US President Donald Trump’s vision for the US to take over Gaza would become a reality.
“The new Gaza war will be different in intensity from the one before the ceasefire, and it will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages,” Katz said.
“It will also allow the realisation of US President (Donald) Trump’s vision for Gaza,” Katz said, referring to Trump’s plan for the US to take over the Palestinian territory and relocate its inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan.
The new Gaza war will be different in intensity from the one before the ceasefire, and it will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages.” – Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz
Mediators in Qatar and Egypt are pushing to salvage the ceasefire agreement, a Palestinian source and a diplomat familiar with the talks told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that “if Hamas does not return our hostages, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated”.
Hamas
In contrast, Hamas reiterated on Sunday its insistence on moving directly into negotiating a second phase of the Gaza truce, as Israel announced it would dispatch a delegation to Doha for further talks.
Representatives of the Palestinian militant group met with mediators in Cairo at the weekend, emphasising the need for humanitarian aid to re-enter the besieged territory “without restrictions or conditions”, according to a Hamas press release.
The high-level delegation also stressed the need for “moving directly to begin negotiations for the second phase” of the deal, which will aim to lay the groundwork for a permanent ceasefire.
Hamas’s demands for the second phase include a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, an end to the blockade, the reconstruction of the territory and financial support, an official told AFP.
