Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 60 overnight as ceasefire looks increasingly fragile | Gaza
Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 60 Palestinians, including 22 children; It was the most serious challenge yet to an increasingly fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire, and what appeared to be the deadliest day since the ceasefire began.
The attacks, which killed scores of children and injured 200 people, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency, came hours after US president Donald Trump said “nothing” could jeopardize the ceasefire agreement he brokered.
On Tuesday evening, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attack following a clash between Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers and amid growing anger over Hamas handing over the body parts of a hostage that Israeli soldiers rescued two years ago.
As far-right figures in the Israeli government clamored for a return to war, Netanyahu called for an emergency meeting to discuss, in his words, Hamas’ ceasefire violations.
Triggered the bombardment Hamas, which has denied responsibility for the attack, delayed plans to hand over the body of another hostage, which was scheduled for Tuesday night.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump said “nothing” could jeopardize the ceasefire, but added that Israel “must respond” if its soldiers are killed. “They killed an Israeli soldier. The Israelis also responded. They should also respond,” he said.
US vice president JD Vance had previously said that the ceasefire continued despite the “conflicts”.
But Tuesday night’s attack exposed all the weaknesses of the ceasefire, which has been marred by violence from the beginning. Before the latest night attacks, the Gaza media office had accused Israel of committing 80 violations since the ceasefire began, killing 97 Palestinians and wounding 230 Palestinians.
Gaza civil defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and appalling” and described the attacks as “a clear and flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
“The Israeli attacks targeted tents, houses for displaced people and the surroundings of a hospital in the area,” he told Agence France-Presse.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told the Guardian on Tuesday that the military “cannot yet disclose the scale” when asked if the attacks were a resumption of full-scale occupation.
However, on Wednesday, the IDF announced that a ceasefire in Gaza had been re-established.
The Israeli military released footage of Hamas members reburying a body in an attempt to “stage a false discovery” for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); He said this was Hamas “trying to create a false impression about its efforts to locate the bodies.” Hamas has not yet commented on the allegations.
The news enraged Israelis, with far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich attacking Hamas and calling on Netanyahu to restart the war.
Under the ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10, Hamas must return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In return, Israel agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for every Israeli.
Hamas has so far returned the remains of 15 hostages, and the bodies of 13 are still in the area.
The militant group said it did not know the exact whereabouts of all the bodies and had lost contact with some of its units that held the captives and were reportedly killed during Israeli bombardments.
Although Trump acknowledged that some bodies were difficult to reach, he said “some of them may now be able to return, but for some reason they may not be able to return.” “This may have something to do with the disarmament of Hamas,” he added.
Israel has set the disarmament of Hamas as its main goal and described it as the main condition for ending the two-year war.
On Sunday, Hamas’ chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the group’s weapons “depend on the existence of occupation and aggression.” “If the occupation ends, these weapons will be handed over to the state,” he said. It is not yet clear whether he is referring to the yet-to-be-formed Palestinian governing authority that is expected to take over Gaza if Hamas cedes control.
