Israel’s defence minister has threatened to return to open war with “unseen intensity” [Getty]
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in southern Gaza on Saturday as Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government continues to unwind the fragile ceasefire with Hamas.
Two people were killed in a drone strike in Rafah and a third died in Israeli army fire in a neighbourhood east of the city, according to local reports.
Israeli tank fire was reported close to the Rafah border crossing.
This is the latest in a string of ceasefire violations committed by Israel since the truce came into effect seven weeks ago.
On Sunday it reimposed its blockade on humanitarian aid entering the strip after Hamas rejected its attempts to block negotiations over the second phase of the ceasefire.
Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted civilians and continued to demolish buildings since the ceasefire came into effect.
Israel plans gradual return to conflict: report
Israel has told mediators that it plans to gradually resume the conflict with Hamas if it doesn’t continue releasing prisoners and agree to disarm, according to a US report.
Tel Aviv has given the Palestinian group until Saturday to comply, after which it will take further steps to escalate the conflict, The Wall Street Journal reports Arab mediators as saying.
Israel has already restored its aid blockade on Gaza, and according to the country’s far-right finance minister, among its next moves will be to cut electricity and water.
If Hamas refuses to surrender, the Israeli military would then resume airstrikes, re-displace the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who recently returned to northern Gaza, and re-invade the territory, according to an Israeli analyst familiar with government plans.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz this week threatened to resume the war with “unseen intensity” if Hamas doesn’t continue to release the captives.
Houthis issue ultimatum
Yemen’s Houthi movement has threatened to resume military operations against Israel if it does not lift its blockade of Gaza in four days.
The Houthis have paused their attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea in line with the ceasefire that came into effect in January.
“If the Israeli enemy after four days continues to prevent the humanitarian aid into Gaza and continues to completely close the crossings, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy,” Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said Friday.
“This deadline is for the mediators for their efforts.”
The Houthis have launched more than 100 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since November 2023 in an attempt to blockade Israeli ports.
Muslim nations back Egypt’s Gaza plan
The 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) backed Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The proposal, approved by the Arab League this week, was put together by Cairo to counter US President Donald Trump‘s threat to occupy the territory and expel its 2.2 million residents.
It provides a roadmap for the reconstruction of the strip without displacing its residents and the formation of a post-war government.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty described the OIC’s endorsement as a “very positive thing”.
Egypt has faced pressure from the Trump administration to take in hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians from Gaza and has scrambled to rally its Arab allies to oppose the plan.
