# Middle East crisis: Hamas accuses Israel of trying to ‘collapse’ Gaza ceasefire agreement – as it happened

3 Mar 2025

* Hamas has accused Israel of trying “to collapse” the Gaza ceasefire agreement, with an official saying Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to extend the first phase of the deal was a “blatant attempt” to avoid entering negotiations about the second phase, which envisaged an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
* Egypt and Qatar – both key mediators in the conflict – were among the Arab states that said Israel’s decision violated the ceasefire deal. The Egyptian foreign ministry accused Israel of using starvation as “a weapon against the Palestinian people”. Israel has also been accused of violating international with the Turkish foreign ministry saying its decision to block aid aims to collectively punish Palestinian people in Gaza.
* The UN secretary general, António Guterres, reacted by demanding that “humanitarian aid flow back into Gaza immediately” with the organisation’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher describing the move as “alarming”.
* A spokesperson for Palestinian militant group Hamas said Israel’s blockade was “cheap blackmail” and a “coup” against the internationally mediated ceasefire agreement.
* Three people, a man and woman in their 30s and a 15-year-old boy, are in a critical condition, and a 70-year-old woman has “moderate” injuries after the attack at a busy bus station in Haifa, the MDA said.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters

Updated at 10.54 EST

## Analysis: Israeli block on aid raises health fears for Gaza’s undernourished population

10.54 EST

Israel’s war on Gaza has reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to dire living conditions for almost all of its residents. Despite an increase in aid flowing into the strip since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in mid January, the humanitarian needs of Palestinian people across the strip remain huge.

Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has had a look at how Israel’s decision to stop the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza will affect relief efforts and the undernourished population’s access to food in particular. Here is an extract of his :

> * Aid agencies say the population of Gaza remains highly vulnerable and that the blockade of humanitarian supplies to a civilian population is unacceptable in any circumstances …
> * Israel has consistently denied allegations by aid organisations during the 15-month military campaign in Gaza that it was using food as a weapon of war, insisting that blockages in supplies were a result of other factors. Sunday’s announcement by Netanyahu’s office made no attempt to disguise the government’s actions or the , which is to gain advantage at the negotiating table.
> * For the duration of the ceasefire, about 600 trucks a day have crossed into Gaza, carrying a total of 57,000 tons of food. This is a similar level to prewar aid deliveries, but aid agencies say that was for a population in a much better physical condition than the undernourished inhabitants now, and that also had the capacity to produce some of its own food.
> * The situation in Gaza now is far more precarious. Nearly 70% of the buildings across the coastal strip have been destroyed or damaged. In those circumstances, Oxfam called the aid that reached Gaza during the six-week ceasefire “a drop in the ocean”.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 05.40 EST

## Food prices surge in wake of Israel's aid blockade on Gaza – reports

3 Mar 2025

* There are reports that the Israeli blockade on all aid – including food – coming into Gaza is causing food prices in the territory to surge. In response, Gaza’s health ministry has called on residents to provide information about merchants raising food prices.
* Tamer al-Burai, a  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,” al-Burai told the Reuters news agency.
* Salama Marouf, head of the Gaza government media office, has tried to restore calm among the population, 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.



Israeli troops during what they have described as a military operation inside the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA

Updated at 05.39 EST

## Israël empêche le flux de nourriture dans le Gaza et menace de couper le flux d’aid humanitaire – analyses

3 Mar 2025

* At least two people were killed by an Israeli drone fire in central  in southern Gaza, medics said. An Israeli military helicopter, meanwhile, fired two missiles on the al-Mawasi area west of , injuring three civilians, Palestinian news agency  is reporting.
* Kathleen Spencer Chapman, the director of influencing and external affairs at Plan International UK, has responded to .
* In a statement, Chapman said:
  * We are horrified by reports that aid is once again being stopped from getting into Gaza. Gaza remains in the grip of a catastrophic hunger crisis, with children in dire need of food, water and shelter. Without the influx of humanitarian aid promised by the ceasefire agreement, thousands more could die from hunger and related diseases alone.
  * After over 15 months of indescribable trauma, Palestinians in Gaza finally had a faint glimmer of hope. World leaders must do all they can to broker an immediate, permanent solution and ensure that critically needed humanitarian aid can safely get into all parts of Gaza. Anything less is unconscionable.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 05.39 EST

## Analysis: Israeli block on aid raises health fears for Gaza’s undernourished population

3 Mar 2025

* Israel’s war on Gaza has reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to dire living conditions for almost all of its residents. Despite an increase in aid flowing into the strip since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in mid January, the humanitarian needs of Palestinian people across the strip remain huge.
* Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has had a look at how Israel’s decision to stop the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza will affect relief efforts and the undernourished population’s access to food in particular. Here is an extract of his :
  * Aid agencies say the population of Gaza remains highly vulnerable and that the blockade of humanitarian supplies to a civilian population is unacceptable in any circumstances …
  * Israel has consistently denied allegations by aid organisations during the 15-month military campaign in Gaza that it was using food as a weapon of war, insisting that blockages in supplies were a result of other factors. Sunday’s announcement by Netanyahu’s office made no attempt to disguise the government’s actions or the , which is to gain advantage at the negotiating table.
  * For the duration of the ceasefire, about 600 trucks a day have crossed into Gaza, carrying a total of 57,000 tons of food. This is a similar level to prewar aid deliveries, but aid agencies say that was for a population in a much better physical condition than the undernourished inhabitants now, and that also had the capacity to produce some of its own food.
  * The situation in Gaza now is far more precarious. Nearly 70% of the buildings across the coastal strip have been destroyed or damaged. In those circumstances, Oxfam called the aid that reached Gaza during the six-week ceasefire “a drop in the ocean”.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 05.40 EST

## Israël empêche le flux de nourriture dans le Gaza et menace de couper le flux d’aid humanitaire – analyses

3 Mar 2025

* At least two people were killed by an Israeli drone fire in central  in southern Gaza, medics said. An Israeli military helicopter, meanwhile, fired two missiles on the al-Mawasi area west of , injuring three civilians, Palestinian news agency  is reporting.
* Kathleen Spencer Chapman, the director of influencing and external affairs at Plan International UK, has responded to .
* In a statement, Chapman said:
  * We are horrified by reports that aid is once again being stopped from getting into Gaza. Gaza remains in the grip of a catastrophic hunger crisis, with children in dire need of food, water and shelter. Without the influx of humanitarian aid promised by the ceasefire agreement, thousands more could die from hunger and related diseases alone.
  * After over 15 months of indescribable trauma, Palestinians in Gaza finally had a faint glimmer of hope. World leaders must do all they can to broker an immediate, permanent solution and ensure that critically needed humanitarian aid can safely get into all parts of Gaza. Anything less is unconscionable.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 05.40 EST

## Analysis: Israeli block on aid raises health fears for Gaza’s undernourished population

3 Mar 2025

* Israel’s war on Gaza has reduced much of the territory to rubble and led to dire living conditions for almost all of its residents. Despite an increase in aid flowing into the strip since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in mid January, the humanitarian needs of Palestinian people across the strip remain huge.
* Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has had a look at how Israel’s decision to stop the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza will affect relief efforts and the undernourished population’s access to food in particular. Here is an extract of his :
  * Aid agencies say the population of Gaza remains highly vulnerable and that the blockade of humanitarian supplies to a civilian population is unacceptable in any circumstances …
  * Israel has consistently denied allegations by aid organisations during the 15-month military campaign in Gaza that it was using food as a weapon of war, insisting that blockages in supplies were a result of other factors. Sunday’s announcement by Netanyahu’s office made no attempt to disguise the government’s actions or the , which is to gain advantage at the negotiating table.
  * For the duration of the ceasefire, about 600 trucks a day have crossed into Gaza, carrying a total of 57,000 tons of food. This is a similar level to prewar aid deliveries, but aid agencies say that was for a population in a much better physical condition than the undernourished inhabitants now, and that also had the capacity to produce some of its own food.
  * The situation in Gaza now is far more precarious. Nearly 70% of the buildings across the coastal strip have been destroyed or damaged. In those circumstances, Oxfam called the aid that reached Gaza during the six-week ceasefire “a drop in the ocean”.



Palestinian people have expressed fear that food, water and vital medical supplies delivered in the past six weeks may be the last for a while. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 05.40 EST
```