Israel has suspended all humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip and launched a new wave of strikes after accusing Hamas of violating a US-brokered ceasefire.
This was reported by an Israeli official Sky News that the aid transfer would be stopped “until further notice” following Hamas' “blatant violation of the agreement.”
It comes after Gazans and local health authorities said Israeli airstrikes and tank fire into the enclave had killed at least 11 people. An Israeli military official said further attacks on Hamas targets could still be carried out after at least three attacks on troops on Sunday.
The IDF statement said that the terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and opened fire in the direction IDF troops work in Rafah. In response ” The IDF went on strike in the area, eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military installations used for terrorist activities.”
Displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza (AP)
This was reported by an Israeli military official Independent that Hamas carried out “multiple attacks” on Israeli troops outside the agreed withdrawal line, in “a gross violation of the ceasefire.”
“The attacks included RPG fire on military forces and sniper fire on military forces,” they added. “Both incidents took place in Israeli-controlled territory east of the yellow line. This is a flagrant violation of the ceasefire.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to respond decisively to what he called Hamas ceasefire violations.
Hamas's armed wing said it remained committed to a Gaza-wide ceasefire, adding that it was unaware of the clashes in Rafah and that it had not been in contact with groups there since March.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip heard explosions and gunfire in Rafah, and witnesses also reported heavy shelling from Israeli tanks in the eastern town of Abassan near Khan Younis, also in the southern Gaza Strip.
The impact of the Israeli strikes was not immediately obvious.
The BBC reported separately that an Israeli airstrike in Nuseirat killed three people, citing a doctor at Al-Aqsa Hospital. The doctor said an earlier strike on al-Zawaida killed six Palestinians and wounded seven more.
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “order the IDF to fully resume fighting in the Gaza Strip with maximum force.”
“False illusions that Hamas will change its policies or even adhere to the agreement it signed, as expected, are proving dangerous to our security,” he wrote on X (Twitter). “The Nazi terrorist organization must be completely destroyed – and the sooner the better.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich repeated: “War!”
The government media office in the Gaza Strip reported on Saturday that Israel had committed 47 violations since the ceasefire agreement, leaving 38 people dead and 143 injured.
In a separate incident on Friday, “operatives” were said to came out of the Rafah tunnel According to the IDF, they opened fire on Israeli forces. There were no reports of injuries.
The developments come at a sensitive time for the ceasefire, with US Vice President J.D. Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff expected to arrive in Israel on Monday to discuss Israeli claims that Hamas is violating the ceasefire agreement.
FILE: Buildings destroyed during Israeli ground and air operations in the northern Gaza Strip (AP)
Hamas on Sunday rejected the US State Department's statement, citing “credible reports” that the Palestinian group was imminent in breaking its ceasefire agreement with Israel. Hamas said the accusations were false.
“Hamas denies the allegations mentioned in the US State Department statement and categorically rejects the claims against it of an 'imminent attack' or 'violation of the ceasefire agreement,'” the statement said.
“These false accusations are entirely consistent with misleading Israeli propaganda and serve as cover for the continuation of organized crime and occupation aggression against our people.”
Hamas accused Israel of creating, arming and financing criminal gangs that it said “committed murders, kidnappings, theft of aid trucks and looting against Palestinian civilians.”
The State Department, in a short statement, assessed that Hamas was planning an “imminent” attack on civilians in Gaza, adding: “If Hamas continues this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.”
Donald Trump has threatened to disarm Hamas if it refuses to do so voluntarily, saying he is not concerned about Hamas killing members of “very bad gangs” in the Gaza Strip earlier this week.
The ceasefire is further complicated by the delay in the return of Hamas hostages to Israel and Israel's decision to close the Rafah crossing to humanitarian aid.
Israel has threatened to close the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt “until further notice.” Netanyahu's office said the opening of Rafah would depend on Hamas fulfilling its role in the ceasefire and returning the remains of all 28 dead hostages.
Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages and 12 dead, but said the process requires effort and special equipment to retrieve corpses buried under the rubble.
Trucks line up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on October 16. (PBC Planet Labs via AP)
Israel identified the body of the deceased hostage on Sunday morning, after Hamas late Saturday handed over to the Red Cross two bodies that militants said were deceased hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the body was identified as Ronen Engel. The second body is still being identified at Israel's National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Engel, 54, was killed in the Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz on the Gaza Strip border. His wife Karina and two of his three children were kidnapped and released following a ceasefire in November 2023.
On Sunday, the IDF said the other dead hostage had been identified as Suntaya Akrasi.
Akrasti, a 30-year-old Thai national, was also killed in the Oct. 7 attack and his body was flown to Gaza. His body was brought from the gardens of Kibbutz Be'eri, the IDF said.
