Hamas refuses fresh ceasefire extension with Israel as fears of all-out war in Gaza resurface

Fears grow for another all-out war in Gaza as ceasefire talks hit stalemate and both sides brace for a new explosion of violence in the Middle East. Horrific stabbing in Haifa

Fears of all-out war in Gaza are escalating as a row over extending the ceasefire hit a stalemate, and as Israel piles pressure on Hamas to settle on another truce.

Hamas has refused to agree to an extension of the ceasefire’s phase one, which ended on Saturday, blocking further hostage releases from the Palestinian Strip. Both sides are bracing for war to return to the enclave and Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan said: “The occupation is pushing to return things to square one and overturn the agreement through the alternatives it is proposing.”

It comes after 70 year-old man Hassan Karim Dhamshe was stabbed to death on Monday and four others were injured in an assault in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. Police said the terrorist - an Israeli Druze man - was killed by an armed security guard. He had travelled to the scene of the attack by bus, and began stabbing passengers after arriving at the station. He then left the bus and continued stabbing in the station area, until he was shot.

The terrorist has since been named by Israeli media as Yitro Shaheen, 20, from Shfaram, who had spent recent months abroad and returned to Israel last week. American mediators have proposed an extension of phase one of the Gaza truce involving half of the living and dead hostages released on day one and the rest at the end.

That is if permanent peace is agreed for this period. Israel is bracing for war within days and pressurising Hamas to release the remaining 59 captives, just 24 of them alive. The Israel aid-block on Gaza persists, with threats to cut off water and electricity and sources say a resumption of war would be far more severe and aggressive from Israel.

The Prime Minister is thrashing out plans for a peace extension whilst Hamas is pushing for a second phase of peace. Ramadan began this weekend and lasts until March 29th. Passover ends on April 19th. Three of the recently freed hostages, Eli Sharabi, Omer Shem Tov, and Keith Siegel, will meet President Trump on Tuesday to push for the release of all the remaining hostages.

The first phase of a truce deal mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Hamas was refusing to accept a temporary extension proposed by Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff.

A Hamas spokesman said blocking supplies to Gaza was "cheap blackmail," a "coup" on the ceasefire agreement and urged mediators to intervene. The ceasefire deal halted 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military, allowing the release of 33 Israeli hostages for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The internationally-mediated ceasefire plan - originally proposed by Joe Biden- envisages three stages, the first of which came into force on 19 January and expired on Saturday. Negotiations on phase two, meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the release of all remaining living hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, were due to have started weeks ago, but have barely begun.

Phase three is meant to result in the return of all remaining bodies of dead hostages and the reconstruction of Gaza, which is expected to take years. Hamas has previously said it will not agree to any extension of phase one without guarantees from the mediators that phase two would eventually take place.