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.

“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,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Sunday morning.

“Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office added, threatening “further consequences” if Hamas continues to say no to the proposal.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel was prepared to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire 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. “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, half of the remaining hostages — living and dead — would be released on the first day of the extended ceasefire, and the remaining captives would be released at the end of the period if a permanent ceasefire is reached.

Hamas rejected the decision, 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, but both sides stopped short of saying the ceasefire had ended, though Palestinians reported several killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis Sunday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the strike, saying a drone was used to hit suspects spotted planting explosives near troops stationed in the Strip.

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

“The Americans, of course, accept our position, and are familiar with it,” the foreign minister said.

He said Israel had received a side letter from the Biden administration “that explicitly states that there is no automatic transition between phases.”

“We fulfilled all our commitments [under Phase 1] until the very last day, which was yesterday,” he told a press conference. “Our position is that during negotiations, hostages should be released.”

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.

Phase one of the ceasefire with Hamas formally ended at midnight as Saturday became Sunday. Minutes later, following a four-hour security consultation with top officials, Netanyahu’s office declared that it was endorsing what he described as a US proposal, which would see the ceasefire with Hamas extended through Ramadan and Passover, during which all hostages could potentially be released.

The Israeli statement claimed that Hamas has so far rejected the US plan, and implied that if this stance isn’t changed, Israel could resume the war that was sparked by the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, devastating onslaught in southern Israel and that has been on pause since January 19.

There has been no official comment from the US administration on Israel’s announcement nor has it confirmed the Witkoff proposal.

Talks on the second phase were meant to begin on Day 16 of the 42-day first phase that has now ended, but Israel has not engaged in indirect talks with Hamas on the topic.

Beyond failing to engage in talks on the second phase, Israel has also not begun pulling back from the Philadelphi Corridor, which it is required to begin doing this week according to the agreement with Hamas.

Netanyahu has indicated he is opposed to redeploying troops away from the belt of land on the Gaza-Egypt border that Israel says is used as a key smuggling route by Hamas to rearm and rebuild its forces.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the Israel Defense Forces. Two of the 24 abductees presumed alive, as well as three of the dead captives, don’t hold Israeli citizenship.

During the first phase, 33 Israeli hostages were released, eight of them dead, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted terrorists serving hefty jail sentences. Five Thai nationals held hostage in the Gaza Strip were freed during the same period under a separate arrangement.

Under the ceasefire outline agreed to by Israel and Hamas on January 19, the remaining living hostages were to be released during the second stage of the deal, during which the IDF would complete a full withdrawal from Gaza. A third stage is also planned, during which the bodies of hostages held by Gazan terror groups would be released, the war would end, and the reconstruction of Gaza would begin.

Senior Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Israel Katz, have said in recent days that the military was preparing for the option of the war resuming.

Witkoff is expected to visit Israel soon, likely this coming week. The Ynet news site reported early Sunday, without citing sources, that Jerusalem would likely hold off on renewing the fighting until the visit. A trip to the region planned for last week was called off due to a lack of progress in the talks.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Witkoff would not travel to the region until late in the week at the earliest, as he plans to remain in the United States for Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.