Hamas has documented 269 Israeli violations of the ceasefire since January 19, including killings, bombardments, aid restrictions, and continued attacks beyond Gaza.
As the Gaza ceasefire hangs in the balance of Israel living up to its commitments to allow sufficient aid entry to the besieged territory, Hamas released a list detailing “key violations of the ceasefire”.
In a document that was provided to Palestine Chronicle and other media outlets by a Hamas official, the Palestinian movement presented a list of the kinds of ways that Israel has been violating the terms of the ceasefire/prisoner-exchange agreement ratified in January.
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The document breaks down the number of ceasefire violations, recorded at 269 between January 19 and February 11, as well as provides five separate categories of violations that either directly violate or violate the spirit of the deal. The categories include:
- Field Violations
- Prisoners
- Humanitarian Aid
- Denial of essential medical supplies
- Political violations
The Hamas document also details twenty-two ways the ceasefire has been violated, fitting inside the above-mentioned categories.
The 269 violations were made up of 26 murders and 59 injuries inflicted, 36 gunfire violations, 29 ground incursions, 9 bombardments, in addition to five fishermen and drivers being placed in detention, while “105 violations were recorded involving the flighting of reconnaissance planes and drones, including (Hermes 450, Hermes 900, Super Heron, Zoveit, QuadCopter), with many of these carrying ammunition, particularly over areas designated for captive’s handover.”
As was mentioned in a previous Palestine Chronicle article covering Israel’s various publicly documented ceasefire violations, the deal’s implementation was even delayed for three hours on January 19 to give way to one last Israeli bombing campaign.
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While the ceasefire was supposed to begin at 8:30 AM that day, Israel used a short delay in the handover of a prisoner list to continue its assaults, which was a violation of the terms of the agreement.
It wasn’t until 11:15 AM that the Israeli military would stop firing on Palestinian civilians on the ceasefire implementation day, which caused the deaths of 19 people.
While Hamas handed over the three Israeli female captives on time, some 92 Palestinian women and children who were being held hostage by Israel were scheduled to be released at 3 PM that same day, yet weren’t released until 3 AM the following day instead.
Israel also has a pattern of violating ceasefire agreements that have been copiously documented in the past and present. In fact, there has not been a single ceasefire agreement in Israel’s history that it has not in some way violated.
In 2014, Israel invaded and launched a large-scale aerial assault on the Gaza Strip, resulting in the murder of 2,310 Palestinians, 70% of whom were civilians, while injuring 10,626 others. Following the 2014 ceasefire, Israel also played the game of arbitrarily preventing aid, equipment, fuel, and reconstruction material into the besieged coastal territory. In fact, the restrictions were so severe that the full reconstruction plan was never fulfilled.
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It is not only in Gaza that Israel violates its ceasefire agreements also. When the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad was overthrown and replaced with that of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)’s Ahmad al-Shara’a, Israel immediately tore up its previous agreements and invaded Syria. Israel continues to expand its illegal occupation of Syrian lands to this day.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, top UN officials publicly called for an end to ceasefire violations after Israel murdered 15 people in the country. The Israelis have committed hundreds upon hundreds of violations of the Lebanon ceasefire, also choosing to start violating it from the very first day.
The agreement was supposed to last for a 60-day period, at the end of which the Israeli forces were meant to withdraw from Lebanese lands. Tel Aviv decided to keep its troops inside Lebanon after the deal, requesting an extension of the deal.
The Israeli military acts as if it has a free hand to attack anywhere inside Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, the West Bank and Gaza, even floating the idea of launching strikes on Iran once again.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Robert Inlakesh is a journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. He focuses on the Middle East, specializing in Palestine. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
