Israel strikes Gaza after accusing Hamas of ceasefire violations

Israel has launched airstrikes in Gaza in response to what Israeli officials say is a violation of a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Hamas of attacking Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Tuesday and violating conditions for the return of the bodies of dead hostages.

The Palestinian armed group claimed it had “no connection” with the attack and insisted it was adhering to the ceasefire agreement.

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed in a series of Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency and hospital officials. Attacks hit homes, schools and residential blocks in Gaza City, Beit Lahia, al-Bureij, Nuseyrat and Khan Younis.

Despite the flare-up, US Vice President J.D. Vance said he believed the ceasefire was continuing.

In a brief statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Tuesday evening, it was stated that Netanyahu ordered the army’s “strong attack”, but the reasons for this were not specified.

But Katz said Hamas crossed a “bright red line” by attacking Israeli soldiers in Gaza on Tuesday.

“Hamas will pay the price many times over for attacking soldiers and violating the agreement on the return of dead hostages,” he warned.

An Israeli military official said the Hamas attack took place “east of the Yellow Line”, which marks the Israeli-controlled area in Gaza under the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli media reported that troops in Rafah city in southern Gaza came under anti-tank missile and sniper fire on Tuesday afternoon, while Palestinian media reported that the area was simultaneously bombarded with Israeli artillery.

After the Israeli army carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday evening, eyewitnesses reported powerful explosions in many parts of the region, including Gaza City in the north and Khan Younis in the south.

A spokesman for the Hamas-run Civil Defense organization told the BBC that four people, three of them women, were among those killed in the bombing of a house belonging to the Al-Banna family in the southern Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City.

Strikes also reportedly hit the courtyard of al-Shifa hospital in the western Rimal district.

A Civil Defense spokesman said five more people, including two children and a woman, died after being hit by a vehicle on Al Qassam Street in Khan Younis.

Hamas issued a statement denying that its fighters had attacked Israeli troops and condemning the Israeli attacks.

“Hamas confirms that it has no connection with the armed attack in Rafah and confirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.

“The murderous bombardment carried out by the fascist occupation [Israeli] “The army’s attack on areas in the Gaza Strip is a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

Meanwhile, the group’s military wing said it would delay the return of the body of a hostage rescued on Tuesday because of what it called Israeli “violations.”

US Vice President Vance told reporters in Washington: “The ceasefire remains in place. That doesn’t mean there won’t be minor skirmishes here and there.”

“We know that Hamas or someone else in Gaza is attacking Israel. [Israeli] soldier. “We expect the Israelis to respond, but despite this, I think the president’s peace will continue,” he added.

Earlier, the Israeli prime minister had vowed to take unspecified “steps” against Hamas after Hamas handed over a coffin containing human remains that did not belong to one of the 13 hostages killed in Gaza on Monday night.

Netanyahu’s office said forensic tests showed the body was that of Israeli hostage Ofir Tzarfati, who was captured by Israeli forces in Gaza in late 2023, a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military also released drone footage on Monday showing Hamas operatives “taking the remains from a pre-prepared structure and burying them nearby.”

“Soon after,” he added, the agents “summoned representatives of the Red Cross and staged a mock demonstration of having found the body of a deceased hostage.”

Hamas rejected the allegations, calling them “baseless allegations” and accused Israel of “trying to invent false pretexts to prepare to take new aggressive steps.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) later issued a statement condemning what it called a “fake rescue”, saying it had attended the scene “at the request of Hamas” and “in good faith”.

It continued: “The ICRC team at this location was not aware of the placement of a deceased person before arriving there, as seen in the footage – our role as a generally neutral intermediary does not include the exhumation of the bodies of the deceased.

“Our team only observed the recovery of remains without prior knowledge of the circumstances that led to this.

“The staging of a fake recovery is unacceptable when so much depends on maintaining this agreement and so many families are still anxiously awaiting news from their loved ones.”

The ceasefire agreement, mediated by the USA, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye, is expected to implement the first phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-article Gaza peace plan.

It was stated that Hamas will bring back its 48 hostages, who lived and died within 72 hours after the ceasefire came into force on October 10.

All 20 living Israeli hostages were released on October 13 in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 Gaza detainees.

Israel also handed over the bodies of 195 Palestinians in exchange for the bodies of 13 Israeli hostages and two foreign hostages, one Thai and the other Nepali, who have been returned by Hamas so far.

Of the hostages currently dead in Gaza, 11 are Israelis, one is Tanzanian and one is Thai.

On Saturday, Hamas’ chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya said the group was facing difficulties because Israeli forces were “changing the terrain of Gaza”. He said that some of those who buried the bodies were martyred or no longer remembered where they buried them.

However, the Israeli government insists that Hamas knows the location of all the bodies.

All but one of the dead hostages still in Gaza were among 251 people kidnapped during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed.

Israel responded by launching a military campaign in Gaza in which more than 68,530 people were killed, according to the region’s Hamas-run health ministry.