Palestinian officials accuse Israel of undermining Gaza ceasefire, expanding West Bank settlements

RAMALLAH, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials on Monday accused Israel of undermining efforts to implement the Gaza ceasefire agreement while accelerating settlement expansion and military measures in the occupied West Bank.

The accusations came as Palestinian officials said Israeli military operations in Gaza continued despite reports of progress toward implementing the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, while new figures showed a rise in attacks and settlement expansion in the West Bank.

In a press statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Presidential Spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Israeli authorities were continuing "their all-out war on the Palestinian people" despite the announced agreement to implement the second phase of the ceasefire.

He said the agreement remained "an agreement on paper while death continues on the ground," urging the international community to take urgent action to ensure implementation of the deal, halt Israeli military operations in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and provide international protection for Palestinians.

On Sunday, at least 18 Palestinians, including four children and two women, were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, according to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense in Gaza. The Israeli military has not commented on the reported strikes.

Ahmed Majdalani, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately obstructing political progress and delaying an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza to improve his domestic political standing and electoral prospects.

The Palestinian leadership is striving to end the war of "genocide, ethnic cleansing, and starvation, for which the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip are paying the price daily through casualties and injuries," he said. He added that Egypt, Qatar and other mediators were continuing efforts to overcome the remaining obstacles and secure full implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

Meanwhile, Mu'ayyad Sha'ban, head of the Commission Against the Wall and Settlements in the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the Israeli army and settlers carried out 2,256 attacks during July against Palestinians, their lands, and their properties in the West Bank.

In a press statement, Sha'ban said the attacks, concentrated in Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Nablus, Jenin, Bethlehem, and Hebron, reflected the continuation of "violence as a systematic daily policy targeting the Palestinian presence and its ability to remain on its land."

Sha'ban said 1,458 attacks were carried out by the Israeli army and 798 by settlers, adding that settlers attempted to establish 29 new settlement outposts in July, mostly agricultural and pastoral.

The developments followed renewed diplomatic efforts regarding the future of the Gaza ceasefire. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump said the so-called "Board of Peace" had reached an agreement on the "complete disarmament" of Hamas and all other armed groups in Gaza.

On Friday, Hamas said it had agreed to the "latest version of the roadmap" for the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement after "fierce" negotiations, but conditioned weaponry arrangements on a complete halt to "aggression," Israeli withdrawal from the enclave, and progress on reconstruction. ■