Israeli officials have admitted to The New York Times that Hamas’s claims about Israel violating the Gaza ceasefire are accurate.
The report, which cited three Israeli officials and two officials from mediating countries who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Israel agreed to let in hundreds of thousands of tents as part of the ceasefire deal, which hasn’t happened.
A few days before Hamas announced it was postponing the next hostage release scheduled for February 15, an official from Gaza’s Media Office said only 10% of the required tents had arrived. Israel has also not allowed mobile homes and heavy equipment to clear the rubble in Gaza.
Besides the blocking of promised aid, Israeli forces have also continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza. The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19, Israeli forces have killed 92 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 822.
Dr. Munir al-Barash, the director of the Health Ministry, also said that since January 19, 24 Palestinians have died of previously sustained wounds, meaning the total number of Palestinians that have died in Gaza due to Israeli aggression is at least 118. He said in the same time period, 641 bodies have been recovered from the rubble, and 197 remain unidentified.
Hamas had stayed relatively quiet about the Israeli ceasefire violations until after repeated calls by President Trump for all of the Palestinians in Gaza, which he says is about 1.9 million people (pre-war population was about 2.3 million), to be removed from the territory permanently as part of his plan for the US to take it over.
In response to Hamas announcing it will postpone the next hostage release, Trump said if all the Israelis held in Gaza aren’t released by this Saturday, the ceasefire should be “canceled,” signaling he’s ready to back Israel if it restarts the genocidal war. Haaretz reported on Sunday that Netanyahu intends to sabotage the truce and not enter the second phase.
Why are Israelis admitting this?
Why not? It's not like they have to be worried about any ramifications.
Yeah, I know impunity, but usually they lie.
As odd as it sounds, the dementia ridden Biden's red lines at least gave the illusion that Israel had to be concerned about being so fucking obvious. Apparently, they don't have to worry about that with Sherrif Trump at the helm.
Those three officials got tired of lying…!
"Why are Israelis admitting this?"
1/ The big split in greater Israeli opinion is between the 'get the hostages back first' genociders, and the GENOCIDE NOW! camp.
Possibly, you've got that split among high officials too – kinda' like with US State Department divisions – making the officials who spoke anonymously 'hostages back firsters'…
…who want the ceasefire exchange to continue…
…who know Netanyahu wants to break the ceasefire…
…and who therefore judge that calling out Netanyahu's violations – to mobilize greater hostage-exchange-first opinion – gives the ceasefire a better chance of continuing for now.
2/ I don't follow Israeli news, but it would be revealing if the NYT anonymous news had been separately leaked to mainstream Israeli papers.
Revealing also: what the 'hostages back' camp – especially protest organizations – are now saying re Hamas's assertion of ceasefire violations as reason for suspending hostage exchange.
From Caitlin Johnstone:
Such manipulations are ramping up as the ceasefire becomes more tenuous. The New York Times just ran a piece titled “Hamas Postpones Release of Hostages ‘Until Further Notice’” and subtitled “Stalling the next release of hostages from the Gaza Strip, scheduled for the coming weekend, raises new challenges for the already tenuous six-week truce and chances for a lasting end to the war.”
If you noticed the complete absence of any mention of Israel’s ceasefire violations as Hamas’ reason for the move, you get an A in media literacy for today. Anyone skimming the news headlines on their social media feed would assume that Hamas is the provocateur in this standoff instead of Israel.
Re the NYT's "complete absence of any mention of Israel’s ceasefire violations as Hamas’ reason for the move":
1/ Yup: both article title and article completely omit Hamas's declared reason – obfuscating and both-sides-ing it, article mentions 'both sides accuse other of violations' – still w/o linking to Hamas statement.
2/ Vs other mainstream news articles, even Israeli:
"Hamas suspends Gaza hostage releases until further notice, citing Israeli violations: Hamas blamed Israel for violating the agreement by delaying the return of displaced people and blocking supplies from entering Gaza. (Jerusalem Post)
"Hamas postpones next hostage release, claiming Israel has broken terms of ceasefire deal" (CNN)
"Hamas suspends hostage release, says Israel isn't following ceasefire agreement" (NBC)
Even WaPO, despite biased headline, gets it in byline:
"Hamas says it will delay the release of more hostages, putting Gaza ceasefire at risk:
Hamas says it will delay the further release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire"
Notice CNN use of the word "claiming". If that was Israel it would be a matter of fact that whatever Israel says is true.
addendum – Reason IS in the text – seems I missed it when I read it Monday. But – as many others have noted – the 'not in headline vs other papers' part is accurate; as is the 'both-sides-accuse' part I mention.
Truth and honesty, go hand in hand.
Netanyahu is white, western and rich but he lies. Hamas is brown, "Islamist" but tells the truth and upholds its commitments. Who is more deserving of our support?
Both sides conceal the truth and engage in deceptive war propaganda.
Wrong. True, war is deception. That is a fact. However, in the over 35 years of its existence neither friend or foe have accused Hamas of being liars (except zionist propaganda). For Netanyahu and company its just the opposite even his friends know he is a habitual liar.
"Don’t try to fool me—I know your tricks because we’re cut from the same cloth."
We have a similar saying in Arabic about Pharaoh and his deputy.
Hamas should have stopped the hostage exchange as soon as knowing Israel is blocking the entrance of tents into the strip…!
The headline as well as the author's The New York Times reference repeatedly contain a “duck”, fake news.
Quote: "The current standoff stems in part from Hamas’s accusation that Israel has not upheld its promises for the first phase of the cease-fire. Israel was required to send hundreds of thousands of tents into Gaza, a promise that Hamas says Israel has not kept. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, three Israeli officials and two mediators said that Hamas’s claims were accurate.“
It's always the Palestinians fault according to western media and press.
It wouldn't be hard to believe that MOSSAD would be looking for those three Israeli officials to punish them…!
"Hamas had stayed relatively quiet about the Israeli ceasefire violations until after repeated calls by…Trump for all…Palestinians in Gaza…to be removed from the territory permanently as part of his plan for the US to take it over."
1/ Seems Hamas was tolerating Israel's violations to get to phase two 'military withdrawal' negotiations…
…but that Trump's 'ethnic cleansing after resumed war' 'plan' (aimed at his domestic electorate, btw)…
…and the anti-negotiation Netanyahu's public endorsement of that 'plan' ('We will do the [military] job.')…
…were the last straws, provoking Hamas to act.
2/ btw – with its anti-Trump-centric lens, this explains the NYT's ceasefire-violation-ignoring-then-minimizing articles, as I'll go into in another post.