PM refused to approve entry of mobile homes, earthmoving equipment to Gaza – report
Political official says issue to be discussed, after Hamas briefly balked at releasing hostages and claimed Israel violated truce by barring bulldozers, trailers from Strip
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly did not give approval for the entry of mobile homes and heavy equipment into the the Gaza Strip during Saturday night’s security consultations, in a potential breach of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
“Following a security consultation chaired by the prime minister, it was decided that the issue of trailers will be discussed in the coming days,” the Kan public broadcaster quoted a political official as saying. “Israel is fully coordinating with the United States.”
According to reports, the ceasefire and hostage release agreement explicitly states that supplies and equipment can be brought in to Gaza to establish at least 60,000 temporary living facilities. The details of the deal have not been published in full.
Images last week showed mobile homes and earthmoving equipment waiting at the Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt.
Last week, the Hamas terror group protested that Israel was blocking their entry and said that talks to get the ceasefire-hostage deal back on track had included discussions on a number of specific items, including such homes and equipment.
Following a week of uncertainty in the wake of the announcement, which prompted US President Donald Trump to suggest Israel issue an ultimatum and demand the release of all hostages, Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad released three hostages Saturday, in accordance with the original agreement, and Israel released some 369 security inmates in return.
The apparent refusal by the premier to approve the entry of the equipment to the Strip comes as Netanyahu reportedly wants to extend the ongoing first phase of the deal beyond the designated 42 days, which are set to end on March 1, and secure the freedom of more hostages as part of phase one, including more hostages Israel now knows are in poor health.
The premier reportedly wants Israel’s negotiators to argue to the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, with US support, that it’s also in the interests of Hamas to extend phase one, and thus the current ceasefire, since phase two has not been finalized and the war would resume if no agreement is reached on phase two.
Netanyahu has thus far refused to allow Israel’s negotiators to engage in talks on the agreement’s second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel from the Strip, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Seventy of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014.
