REUTERS, Jerusalem

Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza yesterday as a standoff over the truce that has halted fighting for the past six weeks escalated, with Hamas calling on Egyptian and Qatari mediators to intervene.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said earlier that it had adopted a proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods, hours after the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired.

If agreed, the truce would halt fighting until the end of the Ramadan fasting period around March 31 and the Jewish Passover holiday around April 20.

The truce would be conditional on Hamas releasing half of the living and dead hostages on the first day, with the remainder released at the conclusion, if an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire.

Hamas says it is committed to the originally agreed ceasefire that had been scheduled to move into a second phase, with negotiations aimed at a permanent end to the war, and it has rejected the idea of a temporary extension to the 42-day truce.

Meanwhile, the ministry of health in Hamas-run Gaza said four people were killed and six others wounded in Israeli attacks yesterday after the first phase of a fragile truce in the territory drew to a close.

“Since this morning, four dead and six wounded” have been brought to “hospitals in the Gaza Strip following Israeli attacks in various parts of the territory”, the ministry said in a statement.

Egyptian sources said that the Israeli delegation in Cairo had sought to extend the first phase by 42 days, while Hamas wanted to move to the second phase of the ceasefire deal. Spokesman Hazem Qassem said that the group rejected Israel’s “formulation” of extending the first phase.

Under the original agreement, the second phase was intended to see the start of negotiations over the release of the remaining 59 hostages, the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and a final end to the war.