Israeli planes launched attacks in Gaza City on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group Hamas of violating a ceasefire on Palestinian territory and ordered his army to carry out “strong strikes”.
Local health authorities said the strikes killed at least 26 people, including five in a house hit in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, four in a building in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood and five in a car in Khan Younis. According to witnesses, attacks by Israeli aircraft continued in the Gaza Strip until early Wednesday.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, the latest violence in a three-week-old ceasefire that followed a statement from Netanyahu’s office saying he had ordered immediate “strong attacks.”
The statement did not give a specific reason for the attacks, but an Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by launching an attack on Israeli forces in an area of the enclave under Israeli control.
“This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
The US-backed ceasefire took effect on October 10, ending two years of war sparked by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, that devastated its narrow coastal strip.
Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations.
‘Small skirmishes’
US Vice President JD Vance, who was part of a parade of Trump administration officials visiting Israel last week, said that despite the latest flare-up, “the ceasefire is holding.”
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be little skirmishes here and there,” he told reporters in Washington. “We know that Hamas or someone else in Gaza attacked an (Israeli) soldier. We expect the Israelis to respond, but I think the president’s peace will hold regardless.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli media reported a firefight between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.
Hamas denied responsibility for an attack on Israeli forces in Rafah. The group also said in a statement that it remains committed to the ceasefire in Gaza.
Tuesday’s attacks on Gaza City followed what Israel on Saturday called a “targeted attack” on an individual in central Gaza who it said planned to attack Israeli forces.
Netanyahu accuses Hamas of violating the ceasefire
Netanyahu said earlier on Tuesday that Hamas had violated the ceasefire by transferring some wrong remains in a process of returning the bodies of hostages to Israel.
Netanyahu said the remains handed over on Monday belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, an Israeli who was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Tzarfati’s remains had already been partially recovered by Israeli forces during the war.
Hamas initially said in response that it would hand over the body of a missing hostage found in a tunnel in Gaza to Israel on Tuesday. However, Hamas’ armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, later said it would postpone the planned transfer, citing what it said were Israel’s ceasefire violations.
Hamas said Netanyahu was looking for excuses to avoid Israel’s obligations.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 captured Palestinians and wartime detainees, while Israel withdrew its troops and halted its offensive.
Search for hostage bodies
Hamas has also agreed to hand over the remains of all dead hostages yet to be recovered, but has said it will take some time to locate and retrieve the bodies amid Gaza’s ruins.
Israel says the militant group has access to the remains of most of the hostages.
The issue has become one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump says is being closely watched.
Health authorities in Gaza say 68,000 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks and thousands more are missing. Israel launched the war after Hamas fighters stormed through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and sending more than 200 hostages back to Gaza.
The October 7 attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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