Israel's block on deliveries into the war-stricken Gaza Strip has led to price increases and fears of food shortages, prompting punitive measures from the Hamas-run authorities against merchants, according to Hamas sources and witnesses.

A tense cease-fire between Israel and Hamas continued to hold amid a stalemate over an Israeli block on humanitarian aid going into Gaza after Hamas rejected a U.S. proposed extension.

Israel wants to extend the first phase of the deal with Hamas, rather than begin negotiations over the more politically fraught second stage.