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Under #Israel’s proposal for an extension, which it attributed to #Trump’s #US envoy to the region, #SteveWitkoff, half of the remaining #hostages held in #Gaza would be released to Israel on the first day of the agreement. If, at the end of the temporary extension — stretching until the end of Passover on April 20 — a permanent truce had been reached, the rest of the hostages would then be returned.

#Netanyahu’s office said in a stmnt that he had decided that, “as of this morning, all entry of goods & supplies into the #Gaza Strip will cease” because of “#Hamas’s refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing talks, to which #Israel agreed.”

The stmnt added: “Israel will not allow a cease-fire without the release of our hostages. If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”

The move is likely to worsen conditions for the inhabitants of #Gaza, after the 15-month #war left much of the coastal enclave in ruins.

#Israel & #Hamas have struggled to move from the first phase of the cease-fire, which expired on Sat, into a second, more comprehensive phase as the deal initially called for.

Israel’s proposal of a tentative truce came after a cabinet meeting led by Netanyahu & attended by his minister of defense, senior defense officials & a negotiating team….

Earlier Saturday, #Hamas …rejected #Israel’s [#SteveWitkoff’s] framework for an extension….

And Hamas is unlikely to accept Israel’s offer without further negotiations, acc/to Aaron David Miller, a former #State Dept #MiddleEast analyst & negotiator who is now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The proposal, he said, “allows Israelis to get hostages back without making reciprocal commitments.”