At least three Palestinian police officers were killed and several others injured in an Israeli drone strike that targeted them in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, while they were securing aid trucks entering the besieged strip on Sunday, February 16.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza condemned the assault, and called on “mediators and the international community to pressure the [Israeli] occupation to halt its targeting of the police force, which is a civilian body responsible for maintaining public security and organizing daily affairs.”
Hamas also denounced the attack on Sunday, labeling it a “serious violation of the ceasefire agreement.” Earlier that day, Hamas said in a statement that Israel also violated the agreement by banning the entry of caravans and heavy machinery to Gaza.
Furthermore, Hamas accused Israel of blocking the departure of patients and wounded individuals through the Rafah border crossing. Gaza’s health authorities have also pointed out that Israel prevented oxygen stations from entering the hospitals in the besieged enclave which “will exacerbate the crisis to levels that threaten patients’ lives.”
Israel’s previous ceasefire violations and their consequences
Since the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel came into force on January 19, multiple violations committed by Israel have been reported. According to Hamas, these violations included delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, targeting them with shelling and gunfire, and blocking humanitarian aid.
As a result of Israel’s violations, Hamas had announced on February 10, that it was halting the release of Israeli captives until further notice, demanding that Israel retroactively compensate for entitlements from the past weeks.
Fearing the collapse of the deal, Qatar and Egypt, which are the main mediators and guarantors of the deal, exerted pressure on Israel to comply with Hamas’s demands and stop its violations. Consequently, Israel did comply with the demands, therefore, Hamas resumed the process of handing over Israeli captives as scheduled on Saturday, February 15.
Israel’s obstruction of the ceasefire deal’s second phase
However, Israel began violating the deal again as of Sunday, in addition to deliberately obstructing the negotiations of the second phase of the deal, which should have started on day 16 of the first phase, which consists of 42 days. This marks a delay of almost two weeks.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a statement about negotiations on Sunday. He informed US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel’s Security Cabinet will convene on Monday, February 17, to discuss the second phase of the deal, which is also the day when the Israeli negotiating delegation travels to Egypt’s capital of Cairo.
Although the results of the cabinet’s meeting have not been declared yet, Israeli media outlets reported that Netanyahu is working to prevent the implementation of the deal’s second phase, quoting a senior Israeli security official familiar with the negotiations.
The unnamed official accused Netanyahu of placing political goals over the lives of Israeli captives. “Every time you think it’s impossible to stoop any lower… it turns out that it is possible, and that there is still much lower still these people are willing to stoop to achieve political goals at the expense of hostages’ lives,” the official said.
