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ANKARA: Traffic was temporarily suspended in both directions in Turkiye’s Bosphorus on Sunday after a tanker had an machinery failure, the Transportation and Infrastructure Ministry said.
The tanker passing the strait that runs through Istanbul was named the Sredine, the ministry said. It did not provide further information.
Israel has cut off the entry of all food and other goods into Gaza in an echo of the siege it imposed in the earliest days of its war with Hamas. The United Nations and other humanitarian aid providers are sharply criticizing the decision and calling it a violation of international law.
“A tool of extortion,” Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said. “A reckless act of collective punishment,” Oxfam said. Key mediator Egypt accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon.”
Hunger has been an issue throughout the war for Gaza’s over 2 million people, and some aid experts had warned of possible famine. Now there is concern about losing the progress that experts reported under the past six weeks of a ceasefire.
Israel is trying to pressure the Hamas militant group to agree to what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government describes as a US proposal to extend the ceasefire’s first phase instead of beginning negotiations on the far more difficult second phase. In phase two, Hamas would release the remaining living hostages in return for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.
Here’s a look at what Israel’s decision means and the reactions.
No word from the US
The ceasefire’s first phase ended early Sunday. Minutes later, Israel said it supported a new proposal to extend that phase through the Jewish holiday of Passover in mid-April. It called the proposal a US one from Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Israel also warned it could resume the war after the first phase if it believes negotiations are ineffective.
Negotiations on the second phase were meant to start a month ago, increasing the uncertainty around the fragile truce. Hamas has insisted that those talks begin.
Later Sunday, Israel announced the immediate cutoff of aid to Gaza.
The Trump administration has not issued a statement about Israel’s announcement or its decision to cut off aid. It’s also not clear when Witkoff will visit the Middle East again. He had been expected to visit last week.
The US under the Biden administration pressed Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, threatening to limit weapons support. Aid organizations repeatedly criticized Israeli restrictions on items entering the small coastal territory, while hundreds of trucks with aid at times waited to enter.
Israel says it has allowed in enough aid. It has blamed shortages on what it called the UN’s inability to distribute it, and accused Hamas militants of siphoning off aid.
For months before the ceasefire, some Palestinians reported limiting meals, searching through garbage and foraging for edible weeds as food supplies ran low.
600 trucks of aid a day
The ceasefire’s first phase took effect on Jan. 19 and allowed a surge of aid into Gaza. An average of 600 trucks with aid entered per day. Those daily 600 trucks of aid were meant to continue entering through all three phases of the ceasefire.
However, Hamas says less than 50 percent of the agreed-upon number of trucks carrying fuel, for generators and other uses, were allowed in. Hamas also says the entry of live animals and animal feed, key for food security, were denied entry.
Still, Palestinians in Gaza were able to stock up on some supplies. “The ceasefire brought some much-needed relief to Gaza, but it was far from enough to cover the immense needs,” the Norwegian Refugee Council said Sunday.
Israel’s announcement came hours after Muslims in Gaza marked the first breaking of the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, with long tables set for collective meals snaking through the rubble of war-destroyed buildings.
The sudden aid cutoff sent Palestinians hurrying to markets. Prices in Gaza “tripled immediately,” Mahmoud Shalabi, the Medical Aid for Palestinians’ deputy director of programs in northern Gaza, told The Associated Press.
Legal implications
Prominent in the immediate criticism of Israel’s aid cutoff were statements calling the decision a violation.
“International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid,” said the UN humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher.
Hours after Israel’s announcement, five non-governmental groups asked Israel’s Supreme Court for an interim order barring the state from preventing aid from entering Gaza, claiming the move violates Israel’s obligations under international law and amounts to a war crime: “These obligations cannot be condition on political considerations.”
Last year, the International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. The allegation is also central to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
On Sunday, Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions, and called Israel’s decision “a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the ICC warrant.
DAMASCUS: The forces of Syria’s new authorities deployed Sunday in a Damascus suburb following deadly clashes with Druze gunmen, state media said amid tensions after Israeli demands to protect the minority group.
Jaramana, a mostly Druze and Christian suburb of the capital, saw a fatal shooting at a checkpoint on Friday, followed a day later by clashes between security forces and local gunmen tasked with protecting the area, according to a war monitor.
On Sunday local security chief Hossam Tahhan said that “our forces have begun deploying” in Jaramana to end the “chaos and illegal checkpoints by outlaw groups,” according to a statement on official news agency SANA.
He vowed to arrest those involved in Friday’s killing of a defense ministry employee at a checkpoint, saying the culprits had “refused” to hand themselves in.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said another person was killed in clashes on Saturday and nine more wounded.
Restoring and maintaining security across Syria remains one of the most pressing challenges for the new authorities after Bashar Assad’s December overthrow.
Adding to tensions, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Saturday issued a warning to the new Islamist-led authorities not “to harm the Druze,” who also live in Lebanon, Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Jaramana resident Salah Abdulrazak Al-Amed, 56, called the Israeli remarks “inflammatory and rash statements” that aimed to “polarize sections of the people.”
Issa Abdulhaq, 53, said that “Israel can declare whatever it wants... They are just talking to themselves.”
The Druze, who make up about three percent of Syria’s population, largely stayed on the sidelines of the country’s war.
Tahhan said there was “great cooperation” from Jaramana residents on bringing the suburb under the control of the new authorities.
Druze leaders in Jaramana had said in a statement that they would “withdraw protection from all offenders and outlaws,” pledging to hand over anyone proven responsible for the latest violence “to face justice.”
Jaramana was one of the first areas where residents, on the eve of Assad’s fall, toppled a statue of his father, former President Hafez Assad.
TEL AVIV, Israel: Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile ceasefire wasn’t extended.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.
The ceasefire’s first phase saw a surge in humanitarian aid after months of growing hunger. Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the next phase Sunday hours after its first phase had ended and called Israel’s decision to cut off aid “a war crime and a blatant attack” on a truce that took a year of negotiations before taking hold in January.
In the second phase, Hamas could release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire. Negotiations on the second phase were meant to start a month ago but haven’t begun.
Israel said Sunday that a new US proposal calls for extending the ceasefire’s first phase through Ramadan — the Muslim holy month that began over the weekend — and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends on April 20.
Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The militants currently hold 59 hostages, 35 of them believed to be dead.
The US had no immediate comment. Netanyahu said Israel is fully coordinated with the Trump administration and the ceasefire will only continue as long as Hamas keeps releasing hostages.
Saying the ceasefire has saved countless lives, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that “any unraveling of the forward momentum created over the last six weeks risks plunging people back into despair.”
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called Israel’s decision “alarming,” noting that international humanitarian law makes clear that aid access must be allowed. Medical charity MSF accused Israel of using aid as a bargaining chip, calling that “unacceptable” and “outrageous.”
Five non-governmental groups asked Israel’s Supreme Court for an interim order barring the state from preventing aid from entering Gaza, claiming the move violates Israel’s obligations under international law: “These obligations cannot be condition on political considerations.”
The war has left most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million dependent on international aid. About 600 aid trucks had entered daily since the ceasefire began on Jan. 19, easing fears of famine raised by international experts.
But residents said prices shot up as word of the closure spread.
From the heavily destroyed Jabaliya urban refugee camp, Fayza Nassar said the closure would worsen dire conditions.
“There will be famine and chaos,” she said.
Hamas warned that any attempt to delay or cancel the ceasefire agreement would have “humanitarian consequences” for the hostages. The only way to free them is through the existing deal, the group said.
Families of hostages again pressed Israel’s government.
“Postponing the negotiation on the deal for everyone’s (release) can’t happen,” Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran, said in Tel Aviv. “Hostages don’t have time to wait for an ideal deal.”
Israel was accused of blocking aid throughout the war
Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in the war’s opening days and only eased it under US pressure. UN agencies and aid groups accused Israel of not facilitating enough aid during 15 months of war.
The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year. The allegation is also central to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denied the accusations. It says it has allowed in enough aid and blamed shortages on what it called the UN’s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid — an allegation that Netanyahu repeated Sunday.
Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions, and called Israel’s decision “a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the ICC warrant.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children. It does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
Israeli bombardment pounded large areas of Gaza to rubble and displaced some 90 percent of the population.
LONDON: Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Minister Badr Abdelatty on Sunday stressed the importance of fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza after a meeting with Dubravka Suica, the European commissioner for the Mediterranean.
Abdelatty emphasized during a joint press conference in Cairo with Suica the urgent need to immediately begin negotiations for the second phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
He highlighted the need to maintain the ceasefire, release all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners according to the deal’s terms, and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The minister said: “Egypt, Qatar, and the US are playing an active role, and we want to emphasize the importance of implementing (the ceasefire). We must begin discussions on the second phase.”
Israel blocked aid trucks from entering Gaza on Sunday, escalating a standoff over the six-week ceasefire, prompting Hamas to seek intervention from Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
A proposed US temporary ceasefire would pause fighting until the end of Ramadan, around March 31, and the Jewish Passover holiday, around April 20. However, this ceasefire would be contingent upon Hamas releasing half of the hostages, both living and deceased, on the first day. The remainder would be released at the end of the ceasefire period.
Hamas has reaffirmed its commitment to the original ceasefire, intended to lead to negotiations for a permanent end to the conflict in Gaza.
Abdelatty stressed that goodwill and commitment from all parties would ensure the success of these discussions for a permanent ceasefire, the Emirates News Agency reported.
He stressed that a political process should follow the ceasefire to establish a Palestinian state and called on all parties to ensure effective humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza, rejecting its use as a collective punishment against Palestinians.
Abdelatty said that the reconstruction plan for Gaza would be presented at the upcoming Arab emergency summit this week in Cairo, and that discussions with the EU and other countries to secure international support would take place.
Suica said the EU was “investing in multilateral programs to empower Palestinians and keep Gaza on the map.” She added that she hoped a ceasefire agreement would help in “paving the way for a two-state solution, which the EU supports and believes should come without preconditions.”
DIYARBAKIR, Turkiye: Residents in Diyarbakir, Turkiye’s largest Kurdish-majority city, said on Sunday that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party’s (PKK) decision to heed its jailed leader’s call for peace was correct and prosperity would follow if the decades-old conflict ended.
On Saturday, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire, a news agency close to it said, heeding jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan’s disarmament call, in what could be a major step toward ending a 40-year insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 people.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, its nationalist ally, and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party have voiced support for the peace call. However, Erdogan also warned that Ankara would resume military operations against the militant group if promises are not kept.
Zihni Capin, a teacher, said in Diyarbakir that people were “exhausted both mentally and physically” by the conflict, and added he hoped the process would conclude in a way that contributes to “prosperity, peace and happiness” in the region.
“I think it is a very correct and appropriate decision. Hopefully, the process will meet the expectations of all the people in Turkiye and the Middle East,” he said.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye and its Western allies. It called on Saturday for greater freedoms for Ocalan, who has been kept in near total isolation since 1999, to advance the disarmament process, but Ankara has said there would be no negotiations.
Tuncer Bakirhan, co-chair of DEM, said on Sunday that political and legal adjustments were now “inevitable” after the peace call, and added that Turkiye’s parliament had a “historic role” to play.
“This process is not one that should be squandered. It must not remain on paper only,” Bakirhan told DEM members in Ankara. “The call is not one for winning and losing... There is no winner, no loser,” he added.
The ceasefire could have wide-ranging implications for the region if it succeeds in ending the conflict between the PKK — now based in the mountains of northern Iraq — and the Turkish state.
It could also give Erdogan a domestic boost and a historic opportunity to bring peace and development to southeast Turkiye, where the conflict has killed thousands and severely damaged the economy.
Zulkuf Kacar, who works as a purchasing manager outside Turkiye, said those who lay down arms need to be given amnesty.
“Enough is enough, this suffering. This suffering needs to end,” Kacar said in Diyarbakir.
