10 March 2025 | 13:30 SAST
4-minute read

The temporary ceasefire in Gaza has officially ended, plunging the region back into a dire humanitarian crisis. According to Maulana Ebrahim Moosa, speaking on Radio Islam International, the situation on the ground is deteriorating rapidly.

“The most important thing to focus on is the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, whereby straight after the elapse of that period, the Israelis stopped the entry of all goods into the Gaza Strip,” he explained. “We’re already eight days into that, and that’s having devastating implications. It’s the month of Ramadan on top of that, and many places, businesses that started opening are now being forced to shut down.”

The blockade has led to skyrocketing food prices, and recent reports indicate that Israel has also cut off electricity supplies, further worsening conditions. “That’s a bit deceptive to say cutting off electricity to the Gaza Strip as if there was much electricity in the Gaza Strip to start off with,” Maulana Ibrahim stated. “But the electricity that they have cut off has been supplying the few remaining desalination plants. So whoever was still being supplied by that water is now going to be affected.”

As ceasefire negotiations continue, reports have surfaced of direct US engagement with Hamas. American envoy Adam Bala held discussions with senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Doha. The talks primarily focused on the release of Israeli captives with American citizenship.

“The Israelis were not too happy with this,” Maulana Moosa noted. “But he [Bala] went on to say that, ‘we, the United States, we’re not an agent of Israel and we have specific interests at play and we did communicate back and forth.’”

This shift in US policy has raised concerns in Israel. Former opposition leader Yair Lapid suggested that the Americans were engaging with Hamas because they no longer trusted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The Americans are doing this because they realise that they cannot trust Netanyahu and if Netanyahu is going to hold sway, American citizens are going to possibly lose their lives,” he reportedly said.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s administration has expressed alarm over the discussions, with Israel Today reporting that Israel is “deeply concerned” about Trump’s involvement in the talks.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, several Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli custody. Many of them have since shared disturbing accounts of torture while imprisoned.

“They talk about being buried, you know, being wrapped up in coffins, in shrouds and being buried alive,” Maulana Ibrahim reported. “And just at the critical moment, the Israelis would allow a few bursts of air into those shrouds so that they would be able to survive and after that continue the torture.”

Other detainees described being treated like animals, forced to endure freezing conditions with minimal clothing, and subjected to humiliating and degrading treatment. “Soldiers urinated in a container and poured it over our faces,” one prisoner recounted. Another said, “Soldiers forced prisoners to shower every other day in freezing water in spite of the bitter cold.”

One particularly harrowing case was that of Musab Hania, the nephew of Hamas leader Ismail Hania. “When he entered the prison, he was about 120 kilos. When he left the prison, he was just down to 50 kilos,” said a former detainee.

In a final act of deception, detainees said they were suddenly given proper meals just days before their release. “They gave us cooked food and cheese, acting like they were treating us well. But this was just obviously to create a veneer of better health for the prisoners when they were going to be released.”

Shifting focus to the broader region, Maulana Moosa also highlighted Israel’s ongoing efforts to ensure Syria remains fragmented and destabilised. Drawing from the analysis of political expert Ali Bakir, he explained, “Firstly, there was a speech by Netanyahu speaking about his approach towards Syria. He put down three conditions: that the Syrian army should not be allowed to deploy forces south of Damascus, that Israel would act as a ‘protector’ of the Druze minority, and that any lands confiscated by Israel would remain indefinitely under Israeli control.”

This strategy, he argued, is part of a broader Israeli policy of maintaining regional instability. “The overarching goal is a systematic weakening and fragmentation of Syria, ensuring that it remains under Israeli occupation, those particular areas devoid of a central government and mired in sectarian conflict. This would be an environment of controlled chaos that would prevent Syria’s recovery after more than a decade of war.”

While Syria’s new leadership under Ahmed al-Sharra has responded with verbal condemnation and diplomatic appeals, experts warn that a lack of decisive action could embolden Israeli territorial ambitions.

“The Israelis will interpret such a stance as a sign of weakness and an opportunity to aggressively pursue its territorial ambitions,” Maulana Moosa noted.

As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza and tensions remain high across the region, all eyes are on the ongoing negotiations in Doha and the shifting geopolitical landscape.

Listen to the Palestine Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.