Israel says it is curtailing aid in an effort to force Hamas to return the remains of the deceased hostages.
By: Briar Stewart ·
One day after U.S. President Donald Trump’s bold proclamation of a “historic dawn of a new Middle East,” the much-vaunted ceasefire deal came under strain as Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the fragile agreement, even as world leaders rushed to work out the next steps to try and preserve it. Phase 1 of the peace plan was about stopping the fighting, ramping up aid and returning all the Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned or detained in Israel. By Tuesday, there was friction on all of those points. Meanwhile in Gaza, deadly clashes have erupted as Hamas seeks to secure its authority, including through the execution of those it accuses of collaborating with Israel. “We’re in a deep crisis mode,” said Gershon Baskin, a veteran Israeli negotiator in an interview with BBC News. “There’s a lot of work to do, and we can’t allow this agreement to collapse so soon. It can’t be allowed to collapse at all.” Source: .bbc.com/news
