The US has backed Israel’s move to halt humanitarian aid to Gaza following Hamas’s alleged rejection of a new ceasefire deal, press reports said on Sunday. The Islamic Resistance Movement apparently refused to agree to a second phase of the ceasefire deal, according to a statement from the National Security Council, reported The Hill.
“Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages,” claimed US National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes. “We will support their decision on next steps given Hamas has indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire.”
The Israeli government halted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza early on Sunday, hours after the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement expired, noted Anadolu. The agreement had halted Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed almost 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence 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.
US support for the latest Israeli move to starve Palestinians was entirely predictable, given that the previous administration of Joe Biden supported the genocide without question, and the Donald Trump administration is packed with pro-Israel figures in key positions.
A US-based NGO submitted a formal request recently for the International Criminal Court to investigate Biden, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin for complicity in war crimes committed during the Israeli genocide.
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