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An Israeli fire killed two people in Rafah and injured three others in Khan Younis Monday amid fears that the fragile ceasefire could collapse altogether after Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, Reuters reported.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that began in January ended over the weekend with the future of the deal still hanging in balance.
Later during the day, Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the agency that Israel’s stance on the ceasefire was pushing things back to “square zero”.
“The mediators and guarantors bear full responsibility for preventing (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu from sabotaging all efforts made to reach the agreement and for protecting the agreement from collapsing,” Reuters quoted Hamdan as saying in a press conference.
Israeli government officials, meanwhile, have reportedly said that mediators had approached Israel, seeking few more days to resolve the standoff.
