The fragile cease-fire in Gaza, established just a week prior, was severely tested on Sunday as Israel launched its most extensive wave of attacks on the territory. Concurrently, Israel announced the suspension of humanitarian aid, accusing Hamas of violating the truce by firing on its forces.
Reports from both sides indicated a serious escalation: Israel confirmed the deaths of two of its soldiers in Gaza combat, while Gaza’s health ministry initially reported 14 Palestinian fatalities across the Strip.
Both Israel and Hamas have now leveled accusations of truce violations against each other following three days of sporadic violence. Despite the escalating hostilities, leaders from both factions reiterated their commitment to upholding the cease-fire agreement.
In response to the alleged truce breaches, Israeli officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the situation, confirmed that all humanitarian aid transfers into Gaza have been halted indefinitely.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli military detailed how Palestinian militants allegedly attacked its troops across cease-fire lines in Gaza, prompting retaliatory airstrikes. According to the military, Palestinian fighters launched an anti-tank missile and then opened fire on Israeli forces stationed in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, which remains under Israeli control per the cease-fire terms.
Describing this as a “blatant violation” of the truce, the Israeli military stated its forces responded by striking the area to “eliminate the threat” and dismantle military infrastructure, including tunnel shafts. Later on Sunday, the attacks intensified, targeting dozens of alleged Hamas sites throughout the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s military wing, however, issued a statement claiming it was “unaware of any events or clashes taking place in the Rafah area,” suggesting they had lost contact with their fighters in that zone.
Separately, Israeli forces reportedly struck a group of armed militants crossing the cease-fire line in northern Gaza, as confirmed by an Israeli military official who requested anonymity.
While the military’s statement refrained from naming Hamas directly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explicitly attributed the renewed violence to the group. Following consultations with his defense minister and security chiefs, Netanyahu issued directives for a forceful response against militant targets in Gaza.
Hamas further clarified that it has had no communication with its fighters in the Rafah area since a previous temporary cease-fire collapsed in March, asserting “no connection to any events taking place in those areas.”
Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas official, countered with his own statement, accusing Israel of persistent truce violations and manufacturing “flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes.”
The latest events follow a Friday incident where the Israeli military fired on a vehicle in northern Gaza, resulting in at least nine deaths, including four children, according to a Gaza rescue service affiliated with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.
Regarding Friday’s incident, the Israeli military explained that the vehicle had crossed a demarcation line into an area from which Israeli forces had withdrawn as per the cease-fire. The military stated its troops fired upon the “suspicious” vehicle after it failed to heed warning shots.
Repeated warnings have been issued by the Israeli military advising civilians against crossing new lines or approaching troops in Israeli-held zones. However, many Gazans, struggling with limited internet access, confusing maps, or simply disoriented in the war-devastated enclave, have at times inadvertently entered restricted areas.
In the aftermath of Sunday’s violence, hard-line members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government swiftly called for a full resumption of Israel’s offensive against Hamas, the militant group responsible for the October 7, 2023, attack that initiated the war.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the ultranationalist minister of national security, demanded a return to fighting “at full strength,” asserting that any belief in Hamas’s adherence to the cease-fire was “predictably proving dangerous to our security.”
Ben-Gvir was a vocal opponent of the initial cease-fire, advocating for continuous fighting until Hamas’s complete defeat.
Currently, Israel maintains control over approximately half of Gaza’s territory and alleges that Hamas fighters are operating from tunnels beneath these Israeli-held areas.
Israeli officials have also voiced their frustration over the slow progress of Hamas in handing over the remains of deceased captives, a crucial part of the cease-fire agreement.
Over the past week, Hamas has released the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages and transferred the bodies of 12 captives to Israel, as confirmed by the Israeli government. Forensic experts, however, determined that a 13th body delivered by Hamas did not belong to any of the captives.
In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and repatriated the bodies of over 100 Palestinians to Gaza.
Among the identified deceased hostages whose bodies were returned late Saturday were Ronen Engel, 54, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, 30, a Thai agricultural worker from the border community of Be’eri.
Mr. Engel had been killed in Nir Oz, another Israeli border community devastated during the 2023 Hamas-led attack, and his body subsequently taken to Gaza.
According to the Israeli government, the bodies of 16 additional captives are still believed to be in Gaza.
Hamas has consistently stated that locating and recovering all remaining bodies presents significant challenges, with many buried deep under rubble and requiring heavy machinery for extraction.
Reporting for this article was contributed by Gabby Sobelman, Johnatan Reiss, Abu Bakr Bashir, and Iyad Abuheweila.