THE CEASEFIRE BETWEEN Israel and Hamas appears to be on the brink of collapse after the Palestinian group announced the postponement of the next round of captive exchanges, citing Israeli violations of the agreement.

Those included a failure to supply sufficient aid to the devastated Gaza Strip, the prevention of people returning to the north of the territory, and attacks on Palestinians by Israeli forces. 

Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, Israeli forces have continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza. 

The Swiss-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said on 7 February that it had documented the killing of 110 people in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement was put in place, an average of six per day. 

However, some of those deaths were the result of injuries sustained before the truce took effect “after Israel denied the right to travel abroad for treatment”, the NGO said. 

On Sunday, three people were killed by Israeli troops in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s civil defence agency, said there were “three martyrs and several injured as a result of Israeli occupation forces opening fire on civilians in the eastern areas of Gaza City”.

The Israeli military said the people had been killed by “warning shots”. Israel said the group had entered a “buffer zone”.

Euro-Med Monitor also said that 901 Palestinians in Gaza had been injured during the nominal pause in fighting. At the same time, Israel has repeatedly violated the terms of a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon and missed a deadline to withdraw its forces.  

“The risk of famine persists (in Gaza),” the UN World Health Organization’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Hanan Balkhy, said yesterday. 

“We are ready to scale up our response – but we urgently need systematic and sustained access to the population across Gaza, and we need an end to restrictions on the entry of essential supplies.”

Hamas’ announcement of the delay to the next round of captive exchanges also comes as US President Donald Trump restated his intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza and turn the strip into a “real estate development for the future”. 

His plan involves the US taking over the strip and displacing its roughly 2 million inhabitants to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan, without the prospect of returning, a plan Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised as “revolutionary”.  

Jordan’s King Abdullah II is due to visit Washington today to meet with President Trump. 

Trump said he could “conceivably” halt aid to US allies Jordan and Egypt if they refuse to take in Palestinians.

Egypt has rejected “any compromise” of Palestinian rights, including “remaining on the land”.

Trump said yesterday that “all hell” would break out if Hamas failed to release all Israeli hostages by the weekend, despite the deal stipulating a staggered exchange of captives. 

“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump said.

Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri told the AFP news agency: “Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners.”

“The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters.”

Another senior Hamas official said Trump should pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu “to implement the agreement, not procrastinate and obstruct” aid supplies.

“Hamas and the resistance factions are committed to implementing all the terms precisely in order to make the ceasefire a success and protect our people,” he said.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz called Hamas’ delay a “complete violation” of the ceasefire deal, signalling fighting could resume.

“I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare at the highest level of alert for any possible scenario in Gaza,” he said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the hostage release, which is set for Saturday.

“We must avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to immense tragedy,” he said on X.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said today that he was “very concerned at the latest reports from the Middle East”.

“This is a critical moment for the ceasefire and hostage release deal,” he said. 

“We must avoid a resumption of hostilities, and all sides must honour their commitments under the deal.”

Harris called for the further release of hostages and for humanitarian aid to continue to enter Gaza. 

“A resumption of conflict in Gaza would be disastrous and everything should be done to avert this.”  

With reporting from AFP