DOHA, March 10. /TASS/. Israel has failed to withdraw its troops from the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt within the scheduled timeframe, in breach of the ceasefire deal, Hamas wrote on its official Telegram channel.
"The Zionist occupying force failed to fulfill its obligation to gradually reduce its military presence along the the Salah al-Din axis [also known as the Philadelphi Corridor] during phase one [of the ceasefire] and did not start troop withdrawal from the area on day 42," the statement says.
The ceasefire deal stipulates that the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi Corridor needs to be completed by day 50 of the ceasefire, or by March 10.
Hamas described Israel’s actions as a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire deal.
"We call upon mediators and the global community to intervene immediately in order to ensure the withdrawal of the occupying troops and resume negotiations on phase two without delay," the Palestinian movement said.
In mid-January, Egypt, Qatar and the US brokered an agreement between Israel and Hamas to declare a ceasefire in Gaza. The three-phase deal took effect on January 19. The initial 42-day phase of the ceasefire ended on March 1. All the living Israeli hostages and the bodies of those deceased that were supposed to be handed over in the first stage were returned to Israel. In exchange, Israel released over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners.
On March 2, Israel suspended humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and closed all checkpoints, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept US Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff’s plan to continue Gaza ceasefire talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Saturday that Israel would send a team of negotiators to Qatar on March 10 in a bid to intensify Gaza ceasefire negotiations. In turn, The Washington Post reported that Witkoff would depart to Doha on March 11 for further negotiations on a truce in the enclave.