By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) - The Palestinian resistance group Hamas called on mediators on Monday to intervene to prevent the collapse of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement and start negotiations for the second phase of the deal.
In a televised speech, senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging efforts to start negotiations for a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
"We call on the international community and the UN to work to compel the occupation to return to the agreement and enter (talks for) its second phase, leading to a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces, relief and shelter for our people, and the reconstruction of what the occupation has destroyed,” he said.
He also called for implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2735 “to achieve a just solution to the Palestinian cause," including the right to self-determination, the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of refugees.
Hamdan urged the international community “to pressure the occupation to open the Gaza crossings and allow the entry of life-saving humanitarian aid."
On Sunday, the Israeli government halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, hours after the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement expired.
Tel Aviv tried to legitimize its move by claiming that after the first phase of the agreement ended, Hamas rejected a draft proposal for continuing negotiations put forward by US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and accepted by Israel.
Hamas strongly condemned the Israeli decision to halt humanitarian aid to Gaza, calling it a "war crime" and a "blatant blow to the ceasefire agreement."
The agreement had paused Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 48,400 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.