Gaza Genocide14 May, 20263 min read
UN Calls Israel And Hamas To Begin Second Ceasefire Phase In Gaza
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Israeli raids and detentions in Tubas area and nearby towns. Aqaba region targeted with raids and arrests.
Ceasefire phase two
The UN called on Israel and Hamas to begin the second phase of the ceasefire as the first phase agreement is expiring, with the UN envoy urging the two signatories to fully honor their commitments and to conclude negotiations to move to the next phase. The UN said the first phase entered into force on January 19 and is expected to end on March 1, and it said the second phase is intended to secure the return of all hostages taken during Hamas's attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
UN interim Special Coordinator for the peace process in the region Sigrid Kaag welcomed the release of 34 Israeli hostages during the first phase, but condemned public displays orchestrated by Hamas and “the horrific procession of coffins of dead hostages.” Kaag also warned that there can be no forced displacement as she cited analyses by the World Bank, the European Union, and the UN estimating the cost of rebuilding Gaza at $53 billion, and she said the UN stands ready to support reconstruction.
Hostages and ill-treatment
Kaag said the released hostages show clear signs of ill-treatment during their captivity, and she told the UN Security Council that this was confirmed by Noa Argamani, a former Hamas hostage released last June by the Israeli army in Gaza. Argamani told Security Council members that the hostages are in hell, and she said she had received no medical treatment after the bombardment of the house where she was held with two other hostages, one of whom died in the explosion.
She said the other hostage was massacred two days later, and she described how she and her partner Avinatan Or were abducted on October 7, 2023, while they were attending a music festival near the Re’im kibbutz in the Negev desert. Kaag also expressed concern about reports of serious ill-treatment and humiliations of the 1,135 Palestinian prisoners and detainees released by Israel under the first phase of the ceasefire, while urging Israel and Hamas to conclude negotiations for activating the second phase.
West Bank violence rises
Alongside the ceasefire push for Gaza, Kaag expressed concern about military operations, attacks, and the rise in violence in the West Bank, where casualties, destruction, and displacements continue to be reported in the refugee camps in the Jenin, Tubas, and Tulkarem governorates. She said most of these areas are in Area A, under the civil and security responsibility of the Palestinian Authority, and she described Israeli forces carrying out airstrikes and heavy-weapon attacks while Palestinian militants used improvised explosive devices and carried out armed attacks.
Kaag also condemned the continued expansion of illegal settlement activity, including the construction of 2,000 new homes in recent weeks mainly in Area C, and she said land appropriations and settler outposts hinder the use of Palestinian lands for agricultural purposes amid expulsions of Palestinians and demolitions of homes. In a separate account of raids in the West Bank, Saba reported that Israeli forces conducted raids in the city of Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem and in the Shuafat refugee camp northeast of East Jerusalem, and it said they also arrested a young man in Aqaba north of Tubas.