From: Haaretz February 28, 2025
Trump advances $3.17 billion weapons sale to Israel

The Trump administration formally advanced more than $3 billion in weapons sales to Israel, notifying Congress of three separate sales that offer a dramatic sign of support from the administration amid concerns of America First isolationists dictating policy.

It appears that the new sale, like the preceding one, was advanced without the approval of all relevant committee leaders in Congress.
This is the latest example of Trump disregarding longstanding precedents in how the U.S. government functions and engages with foreign allies.

the State Department said about the sales:
Both the new Trump sale and the proposed Biden sale come from pre-allocated U.S. military assistance to Israel stipulated in the 10-year memorandum of understanding between the two countries.

Hamas and all those terror groups should be destroyed Islam is not the solution they don't want a free democratic world.
My thoughts are with the Pope his end is near !

Reuters March 1, 2025
Hamas rejects Israel’s ‘formulation’ of extending first Gaza ceasefire phase

Hamas says it rejects Israel’s “formulation” of extending the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, on the day the first stage of the deal is set to expire.

The group’s spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, also tells Al-Araby TV that there are no current talks for a second ceasefire phase in Gaza with the group.

Terrorists still calling the shots

you want Trump on your side

Netanyahu
1. winning a blank check
2. and an unshakable ally
3. Trump advances $3.17 billion weapons sale to Israel
4. Trump defers Phase 2 to Israel

Zelensky It's not a smart move
1. refusing Trump administration request not to submit UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion
2. arguing with Trump especially when going with 'begging bowl'
3. confrontational Oval Office meeting
4. criticizing Putin when Trump is 'cozying up' to Russia
5. lecturing them they could be in the same position some day
6. Trump: Either make a deal or We’re out
7. Zelensky did himself and Ukraine no favours
8. Senator Lindsey Graham ‘Absolute, utter disaster’: resign or change
9. Putin 'the real and only winner' after heated row between Trump and Zelensky

The Trump administration is considering pausing all military aid to Ukraine, a senior White House official told The Washington Post on Friday.
The anonymous official said that the pending decision would halt billions of dollars of radars, vehicles, ammunition, and missiles awaiting shipment to Ukraine.

CNN March 1, 2025
Zelenskyy bristled at his berating by Trump and Vance. After three years of war, what did they expect?

Ukrainian military channels on Telegram fumed they would rather die on their feet, than beg on their knees. Kyiv officials exuded solidarity.
But the carpet under their feet was suddenly gone.

After Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy found himself berated for lack of gratitude on live television by US President Donald Trump and his Vice President
JD Vance, Ukraine seemed immediately unsure – after their collective survival of three years of Russian bombardment and savagery – whether
1. to be furious at his treatment at the hands of wealthy American elites or
2. to seek remedy in Kyiv's relationship with the ally it likely cannot endure without.

Israel's gratitude Israel wouldn't exist if not for US

European countries deepening rift with US over Ukraine
European leaders throw support behind Ukraine after Zelenskyy's clash with Trump

Australian Prime Minister,What about the struggle of democratic Israel versus multi-front terrorists

Trump take note

From: The Jerusalem Post March 1, 2025

Hamas stalls Gaza ceasefire talks, betting Israel won't resume fighting
Hamas plays for time, stalling hostage talks and banking on a prolonged ceasefire.

Hamas is playing for time in Cairo, Doha, and Gaza.
It hopes that Israel has gambled on extending a ceasefire deal, and that it can hold out and get the best of both worlds.

What are the best of both worlds for Hamas?
It wants to keep the ceasefire going, which began on January 19 while not having to hand over any more hostages as it drags out talks.

This is because Hamas agreed to the first deal back in mid-January of this year, primarily because incoming US President Donald Trump sent envoy Steve Witkoff to press Israel and Hamas to agree to the deal.

Qatar, which hosts Hamas, got the terrorist group on board.

Hamas essentially agreed to a deal on January 17 that it had already agreed to many months ago.

Hamas always wanted a slow deal, with hostages released in small numbers over months, followed by an end to the war.
It assumed that once Israel stopped fighting, inertia would keep the war from restarting.

Today, with Trump and Witkoff no longer laser-focused on the deal and instead dealing with other issues such as Russia and Ukraine, Hamas assumes that it can go back to the way things were in the summer and fall of 2024

However, Hamas has a trick up its sleeve.
It remembers March 2024 when it got Israel to basically do a de facto ceasefire during Ramadan.

At the time, the Biden administration pressured Israel to reduce the intensity of fighting in Gaza.
Israel did so, and Hamas got a reprieve. Now it wants even more.

First ceasefire deal
Hamas remembers the first ceasefire deal in late November 2023

Under that deal, it released around a dozen women and children hostages per day.
However, by December 1, 2023 it was unwilling to release more women and children hostages.

Instead, the terrorist group said at the time that it would turn over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her children Kfir and Ariel, as well as their father Yarden.

NPR noted then that “Hamas, in a statement issued Friday afternoon local time, said Israel ‘bears full responsibility’ for the breakdown of the ceasefire.

In all-night negotiations, the Islamist [terrorist] group said:
it ‘offered to exchange prisoners and the elderly [and]... offered to hand over the bodies of those killed and detained as a result of the Israeli bombing.’

The New York Times added,:
“Hamas also proposed exchanging the children’s father, Yarden Bibas, who it says is still alive, for a few dozen of the longest-serving prisoners.”

At the time, Israel had rejected this, and fighting immediately resumed when Hamas violated the deal.

Today, Hamas knows that
1. the 42-day deal that began on January 19 has ended,
2. and it doesn’t think Jerusalem will invade Gaza again.

Israel just left the Netzarim corridor and other areas and redeployed the 162nd Division from Gaza after 500 days of combat, for example

Hamas made it clear it rejects extending the deal.
Israel thinks extension is the best way to get more hostages but not end the war.

Israel’s leadership doesn’t want to end the war because they have promised total victory in Gaza.

They also now claim to want to follow a plan proposed by Trump to empty Gaza of some or most of its residents.

The president repeatedly says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can do whatever he wants.
However, Israel has not come up with a clear plan or strategy.

There is no feasible way to empty Gaza of people at the moment.

There appears to be no clear plan to remove Hamas, replace it, or “defeat” it as the governing and military power either.

Hamas assumes that Israel has no plan.

However, the terror group has seen Israel declare victory in Gaza over the years and leave.

It assumes Israel likes talking about victory but not actually achieving it.
Hamas knows that in any power vacuum in Gaza, it will return to control.

Can the Trump administration help Israel get a deal? That’s a big question.

Hamas wants to end the war and get Israel to leave Rafah.

It doesn’t want to extend the deal unless it gets many more prisoners returned.
Eventually, Israel may run out of prisoners to release.

Hamas released a video of freed hostage Iair Horn and his brother Eitan over the weekend. Eitan is still held in Gaza.

Hamas also knows Israel is at an impasse in negotiations.

It knows that the Jewish state has moved the talks to a more political level and that it stalled for time because of claims by Israel’s leadership that they wouldn’t go into phase two.

While Hamas faced some diminishing returns in parading hostages, preferring a quiet release last week as the first stage of the deal came to an end, the terror group also feels it can pressure Israel.

At the end of the day, it is playing a high-stakes and dangerous game.

However, the group also knows that in the past, Israel was not very good at negotiating ceasefires.
It assumes now that Israel has a ceasefire, it will have a hard time jumping right back into the war.

If Hamas can get Ramadan as a ceasefire and not return more hostages, it will have won.
If it feels pressured by a return to fighting, it might reconsider.

However, it showed in 2024 that fighting doesn’t necessarily pressure it as long as it holds on to the central camps in Gaza and holds hostages.

From: Haaretz March 1, 2025
Gaza Cease-Fire: Hamas rejects Israel's request to extend cease-fire's first stage by six weeks

Israel Accepts U.S. Plan to Extend Truce if Half of Hostages Released, Hamas Refuses

Netanyahu’s office: Israel agrees to Witkoff’s plan to extend truce if Hamas frees half of hostages on first day

Israel has accepted a proposal by U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, for extending the cease-fire with Hamas during Ramadan and Passover, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Sunday.

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN

As the new Trump administration flexes its diplomatic muscle in Europe and the Middle East, Jerusalem must stand with its ally rather than with Ukraine and its American supporters

It was a confrontation Israel would have rather avoided
But when push came to shove at the United Nations General Assembly UNGA this week, the Jewish state knew what it had to do

Faced with a choice between taking sides with Ukraine, the European Union and most of the international community or standing with the Trump administration, Jerusalem didn’t hesitate to back Washington

For doing so, it’s not only getting bashed by some familiar critics but former friends as well

The dilemma was caused by an European Union resolution reaffirming the world body’s condemnation of Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine’s borders on the third anniversary of the war that started on February 24, 2022

The measure also demanded that Moscow withdraw “immediately” from territory it seized from the former Soviet republic in 2014

The United States, which has begun an effort to negotiate an end to the brutal conflict that has already taken one million lives on both sides, opposed the resolution

• UN meaningless gestures of virtue-signaling

Rather than being (like most of what happens at the United Nations) a meaningless gesture of virtue-signaling, the Trump administration correctly viewed the resolution as an effort to derail its diplomatic initiative

It preferred a simple call for an end to the war—rejected by Ukraine and its supporters—while not outrightly blaming Russia

So, what could Israel do when the General Assembly voted?
1. It supported the US position on both resolutions
2. It voted against the EU proposal in one instance
3. and again following Washington’s lead, abstained on the other

European amendments had transformed the American resolution’s meaning, to undermine President Donald Trump’s policy on the war

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Anger at Israel

As a result, Israel and Netanyahu came under fire for siding with Trump, Hungary and Russia, in addition to Moscow’s unsavory allies like Iran and North Korea

For “Never Trump” die-hards like former Republican bigwig turned Democratic Party cheerleader William Kristol, Israel’s action was a “disgrace” in which they were accused of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin against “democracy and decency”

Kristol was once an ardent supporter of Israel and regarded former President Barack Obama’s efforts to appease Iran as an “emergency”

Kristol's rage at Trump’s takeover of the GOP was so great that by 2020 he was openly supporting a return to those same dangerous anti-Israel policies if it meant defeating Trump

While it’s hard to take people like Kristol seriously anymore, he wasn’t alone in excoriating Israel on this point

Some Americans have,

• embraced the cause of Ukraine as the most important issue in the world, dwarfing all other concerns
• including the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023
• and the subsequent surge in antisemitism throughout the globe

For them, the choice on the war between Russia and Ukraine is a binary one between good and evil
For many, that extends to any discussion about Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Standing with Trump against Zelenskyy’s demands for a continuation of former President Joe Biden’s policy backing the war for “as long as it takes” is now treated as a de facto endorsement of Putin by many in the corporate liberal media

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Isolating Israel

For those who demonize Trump along with Putin, lumping Israel in with them isn’t a stretch

The American political left has turned on the Jewish state, falsely accusing it of being a “settler-colonial” and “apartheid” state that commits “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

The barbarous actions of Hamas and the Palestinians are termed justified “resistance,” rather than evidence of depravity and hate terror

They already judge Israel by a distorted set of double standards they would never apply to any other country or people
Even so, Netanyahu would have been happy to avoid being depicted as having discarded morality so as to retain a stance as Trump’s sidekick


A negotiated settlement that won’t give either Kyiv or Moscow all that they want is the only way to stop the killing and the enormous drain of American resources to continue a costly stalemate

But there’s also no denying that backing Trump on this issue only heightens the growing isolation of the Jewish state
That is particularly true in Europe, where—outside of friendly outlier nations like Hungary—hostility for Israel is a function of the growing strength of a bizarre red-green alliance of leftists and Muslim immigrants

The European Union is horrified by Trump’s effort to end the war as well as by the administration’s willingness to note that, for all of its talk about democracy, free speech is on the wane on the continent

Being caught in the middle between Russia and Ukraine is nothing new for Israel

Since the war started, it has come under pressure to take an active part in Ukraine’s defense
1. Jerusalem denounced the invasion of Ukraine,
2. took in refugees from the war
3. and also provided considerable aid to Kyiv

However Israel refused to give Ukraine any of its precious Iron Dome air-defense batteries or completely break off relations with Moscow

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Ukrainian hypocrisy

At the time, Russia’s military presence in Syria, as well as the safety of those Jews who remained in the country after most had left in the last 35 years, provided a rationale for Jerusalem’s caution.

Zelenskyy also undermined his own case when, in a virtual address to the Knesset, he falsely claimed that Ukrainians stood with the Jews during the Holocaust when, in fact, they were among the most ardent and brutal collaborators with the Nazis

Any other world leader making such an egregious claim would have been denounced as a Holocaust denier
But so great was the regard for Zelenskyy that it was largely ignored

The same was true when it comes to how Ukraine votes in the United Nations

As Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine said in 2023How then can Ukraine’s fans condemn Israel’s voting?

The collapse of Russia’s Syrian ally, coupled with Israel’s victory over Hezbollah and Iran, means that Israel no longer has to worry as much about Moscow’s military might next door

Though Trump’s victory in the 2024 elections returned a strong ally to the White House, the new administration’s flexing of its diplomatic muscles in the last month provides another reason for Israel to keep Ukraine at arm’s length

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Trump is in charge in the region not Israel

Trump’s various statements about Hamas and the war in Gaza have brought moral clarity to the issue as well as comforted Israel

But as his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff travels to the region seeking to keep the ceasefire/hostage release deal alive, in addition to beginning efforts to expand the 2020 Abraham Accords, Netanyahu knows full well that Trump is in charge in the region, not Israel

Washington’s positions are close to those of Israel’s though not on every issue

That’s especially true when it comes to Iran, where the president seems to prefer sanctions and negotiations to a military strike on its nuclear program

Indeed, given the stakes involved in gaining the release of the hostages and what may be an inevitable return to the war on Hamas so as to ensure it doesn’t retain power in Gaza, Jerusalem has as much need to stick close to Trump as it ever has

Claims that Trump would betray Israel at the drop of a hat, fly in the face of his record as a steadfast ally of the Jewish state
In that light, voting with the United States to oppose meaningless UN resolutions meant to make it harder to negotiate peace in Ukraine seems like a small and entirely defensible price to pay for firming up the alliance with Washington

That’s true even if it means also voting with Russia and its despicable allies

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• Trump may be right

Trump is often criticized for his transactional approach to foreign policy rather than one that is based on or pretends to be rooted in moral issues and human-rights concerns

But after the failure of Obama and Biden’s policies to deter Russia or Iran, the need for a more sober approach to these conflicts based on realpolitik concerns is warranted

It’s not just that Biden’s weakness encouraged aggression
Disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq should have cured Americans of any lingering belief in exporting democracy

After all that, it should be obvious that a pragmatic approach to the world and the need to maintain a balance of power—as opposed to one that claims to be defending some great moral principle—is likely to do more to do less harm and avoid needless conflict


Yet a continuation of Biden’s support for the unattainable goal of Ukraine defeating Russia still sounds good to Western armchair strategists committed to obsolete Cold War strategies

It also appeals to those who not only think Russia is evil but have drunk the Kool-Aid about Ukraine being the avatar of the struggle for democracy, rather than just another corrupt and largely undemocratic former Soviet republic

Israel was right to stick with Trump at the UN
Jewish News Syndicate by Jonathan S. Tobin 25 February 2025

Extracts:

• no “daylight” between the United States and Israel

In his first term, Trump was encouraged to listen to the “grown-ups” who came out of the foreign-policy establishment rather than his own instincts

Trump eventually learned that was a mistake and achieved a great deal, especially in the Middle East, by ignoring those establishment voices
Trump may still be too impulsive to have earned blind trust when it comes to charting a new course for the United States abroad

But putting down Trump's peace initiative as merely appeasing Putin or recycling the long-since-debunked Russia collusion hoax conspiracy theories is not a credible or reasonable response to his positions

Under the circumstances, allowing no “daylight” between the United States and Israel is not only a wise strategy for Jerusalem

It is one that puts it on the side of a far more effective policy to defend the interests of the West as well as the Jewish state, than anything Trump’s critics might support

Israel must learn Trump's altered rules of diplomatic discourse
The Jerusalem Post by Dr. Liraz Margalit 01 March 2025

Extracts:

• Israel must learn Trump's altered rules of diplomatic discourse from Zelensky meeting

Israel must take note as it navigates complex foreign policy challenges, it cannot assume that traditional diplomatic norms remain intact

Israel, facing critical foreign policy challenges with key allies, must draw lessons from Friday’s White House meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

• The primary takeaway

Diplomatic discourse no longer follows the same rules as in the past

On Friday, Trump and Zelensky met in Washington for discussions that ultimately collapsed

The Ukrainian leader left the White House without signing the agreement that had been expected

The tense interaction between the two leaders provided a stark lesson in negotiations
The first rule of negotiation is understanding the nature of the conversation

Zelensky approached the meeting from a moral and ideological standpoint, emphasizing justice and values

Trump, in contrast, framed the discussion as a business transaction
Trump sought – and succeeded – to redefine the diplomatic framework: No more traditional alliances, only mutual interests

Israel must learn Trump's altered rules of diplomatic discourse
The Jerusalem Post by Dr. Liraz Margalit 01 March 2025

Extracts:

• Zelensky misread the dynamics

Zelensky failed to grasp Trump’s broader strategy – reshaping US foreign relations to prioritize pragmatic and transactional engagements over historic alliances

Trump views the world through the lens of deals and leverage

Under this approach if the US provides assistance, it expects a clear return Transactional agreements replace alliances

If Ukraine wants American support, it must provide something tangible in return

Israel must learn Trump's altered rules of diplomatic discourse
The Jerusalem Post by Dr. Liraz Margalit 01 March 2025

Extracts:

• Zelensky's approach misaligns with Trump's foreign policy

Zelensky however did not approach the meeting as a negotiation

Zelensky saw it as an appeal to shared values, viewing international relations in terms of justice, fairness and moral obligations
Zelensky tried to convince Trump that Ukraine serves as the last line of defense for Western democracy, expecting unconditional support

However Zelensky's approach was misaligned with the realities of Trump’s foreign policy

For Trump, the idea that the US serves as a moral guardian of democracy is obsolete
Trump administration prioritizes American interests above all else

While former president Joe Biden may have seen Ukraine as a strategic partner, Trump sees it as a debtor with an outstanding balance

Trump's goal is to rewrite the geopolitical rule book –
1. no longer positioning the US as the “leader of the free world”
2. but as a nation that operates solely in its own interest

At its core, Trump-Zelensky meeting represented a battle over narratives

Trump’s stance is that US aid must come with a price
Zelensky attempted to frame Ukraine’s fight as a broader struggle for democracy but this approach failed to resonate in a transactional framework

• The key lesson

Zelensky needed to speak Trump’s language

Instead of focusing on democracy and values, Zelensky should have presented Ukraine’s case in terms of American interests – economic, strategic and geopolitical

Israel must learn Trump's altered rules of diplomatic discourse
The Jerusalem Post by Dr. Liraz Margalit 01 March 2025

Extracts:

• There is always a Price Tag

Zelensky should have used business terminology: Return on investment (ROI) deals and competitive advantage, rather than aid and moral obligations

Zelensky could have framed Russia and China as competitors for Ukraine’s resources, emphasizing that Trump could secure a better deal for the US

Israel must take note. As Israel navigates complex foreign policy challenges, it cannot assume that traditional diplomatic norms remain intact

Just as Zelensky engaged in a discussion about values while Trump sought a negotiation based on interests, Israel must recognize that in a world where alliances are increasingly transactional, gratitude is not a currency and moral arguments do not outweigh strategic calculations

In a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape, Israel must ensure that it provides tangible value to each strategic partner – whether through technology, intelligence or geopolitical advantages

If even Ukraine, a nation at war, is expected to offer something in return for support, Israel [at war too] cannot afford to assume that it will receive unconditional backing indefinitely

*Dr. Liraz Margalit is a psychology professor at Reichman University, lecturer and writer with a specialization in game theory and behavioral economics

From: The Times of Israel March 2, 2025

US backs Israeli stance in hostage talks, but doesn’t confirm Witkoff behind Gaza proposal
Jerusalem claims US backs move to push extension of now-expired First phase of ceasefire rather than negotiating Second phase;

Thousands in Jerusalem demand Israel continue ceasefire to release hostages

Israel halts Goods and Supplies, Aid into Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce

About time indeed... Enough! with terrorists calling the shots

PM: ‘Humanitarian aid turned into terrorist budget against us’

Israel said Sunday it would not allow any more goods to enter Gaza over what it called Hamas’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the expiring initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, and threatened “additional consequences” and a return to war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said the move had rock-solid backing from US President Donald Trump’s White House, even as Jerusalem appeared to back away from its previous agreement with Hamas to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire during which additional hostages would be released and Israel would fully withdraw from Gaza.

the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Sunday morning:
“With the end of phase one of the hostage deal and in light of Hamas’s refusal to accept the [US special envoy Steve] Witkoff outline for continuing talks – to which Israel agreed – Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided that, as of this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will cease,”

“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” the PMO added, threatening:
“further consequences” if Hamas continues to say no to the proposal.

It later denied a report in Arabic-language media that Netanyahu had dispatched a delegation to Egypt for talks.

Netanyahu also claimed at his weekly cabinet meeting that Hamas is diverting aid entering the Strip for its own use.

“Hamas is currently taking control of all supplies and goods sent to the Gaza Strip."
1. It is abusing the Gazan population who are trying to receive the aid,
2. it is shooting at them,
3. and is turning humanitarian aid into a terrorist budget directed against us,

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israel believes enough aid has entered the enclave in recent weeks to last Gaza for several months.

Jerusalem has questioned the veracity of reports of famine in the enclave over the course of the war, which has been blamed on a lack of sufficient aid flowing into the Strip via Israel-controlled border crossings.

Both Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said:
1. Israel was prepared to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire
2. but was insisting on more hostages being freed during the talks.

“The commitment to bringing in this amount [of supplies to Gaza] was in the first phase,” Sa’ar said at a press conference.
“The first phase ended, and we are implementing the principle of no free meals.”

Israel announced it was adopting a previously unpublicized “Witkoff plan” early Sunday as the first stage of the ceasefire deal expired and the sides failed to negotiate a second phase.

According to Israel’s account of Witkoff’s proposal, the halt in fighting would extend until the end of Passover on April 19

Under the plan:
1. half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended ceasefire,
2. and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is reached.

Netanyahu denied that Israel was shirking its commitment to negotiate the second phase, saying Witkoff proposed the extension after he understood:
“He even defined his proposal as a corridor for negotiations on phase two,” said Netanyahu. “Israel is ready for this.”

International law abiding terrorists

Hamas rejected the new proposal and lashed out against Israel for cutting off aid, calling it:
“cheap extortion, a war crime and a blatant attack on the [hostage-ceasefire] agreement.”

The terror group urged mediators to compel Israel to reverse the decision.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters the decision to halt goods would impact the ceasefire talks, adding his group “doesn’t respond to pressures.”

Both sides stopped short of saying the ceasefire had ended, though Palestinians reported several killed in an Israeli strike in Beit Hanoun Sunday morning.

In a Jerusalem press conference on Sunday, Sa’ar insisted the halt of aid was fully coordinated with the White House.

There is no automatic transition between phases.

From: The Jerusalem Post March 1, 2025
Hamas believes Israel backed into a corner, forced to continue Gaza ceasefire

One can tell that Hamas expects things to remain calm by how it is behaving - this is all part of the terror group's plan.

Two weeks ago, in mid-February, there was talk that “hell will break loose” in Gaza if Hamas didn’t abide by the ceasefire and continue to release hostages.

At the time, it appeared Hamas was willing to walk away from the first phase of the ceasefire and not release hostages on time.
In the end, Hamas backed down and hostages were released. Now, the first phase of the ceasefire is over, and Hamas expects that it will be extended.

One can tell that Hamas expects things to remain calm by how it is behaving.
It has set up tables for Ramadan in areas of Gaza and seems to expect that calm will prevail.

There is also no sense of crises in Doha or Cairo, the two places where mediation is taking place.

Israel has threatened to cut off humanitarian aid [halted] going into Gaza unless Hamas extends the ceasefire.
However, the overall sense is that somehow a solution will be found.

The basic discussion surrounds whether:
1. the first phase of the ceasefire will be extended such that a few hostages are released each week, or
2. if another framework will be found to release more hostages at the beginning of a new ceasefire
3. and then others at the end.

Hamas doesn’t like the new proposals.

It wants phase two of the original deal agreed upon in mid-January to be completed, which would see Israel leave the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and the end of the war.

Hamas wants this because it would basically be a return to October 6
Then Hamas will rebuild its terrorist infrastructure and attack again and take more hostages, get more prisoners released, and do this again and again.

On the other hand, Israeli politicians are at an impasse

While some have warned about “hell breaking loose” in February, the tough talk has now been reduced.
In February, there was talk of Israel supporting US President Donald Trump’s plan to move people out of Gaza so it could be rebuilt.

However, Israeli leaders have not presented any plan about how this might happen.
Instead, they take a “wait and see” approach, expecting the Trump administration to sort things out.

For instance, talks about the second phase of the deal were supposed to take place weeks ago, but Israel stalled and waited.

Right-wing politicians have said:
1. they don’t want to go to phase two;
2. they want phase one to continue.

Hamas disagrees -- Let's appease them...

From: The Times of Israel March 2, 2025
European Union condemns Hamas for refusal to extend first phase of ceasefire

The European Union condemns Hamas for its refusal “to accept the extension of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.”

In a statement from its External Action Service, the EU also warns that Israel’s decision to keep aid from entering Gaza “could potentially result in humanitarian consequences,” but avoids directly condemning Israel -- That is Trump magic!

The EU calls for a speedy return to talks on the ceasefire’s second phase.

It also calls for
1. “full, rapid, safe and unhindered access to humanitarian aid at scale for Palestinians in need and
2. for allowing and facilitating humanitarian workers and international organizations to operate effectively and safely inside Gaza.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar met EU foreign ministers and leadership last month in Brussels, as ties between the bloc and Israel appear to be on the upswing.