Deadly flare-up tests Israel-Hamas ceasefire

A week ago, US President Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome in Israel after a ceasefire was reached in Gaza and Israeli hostages were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

But the days since then have shown how unstable the ceasefire is, and Sunday presented its biggest test yet.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a series of deadly attacks across Gaza after two soldiers were killed in an attack it blamed on Hamas. An Israeli security official announced that aid deliveries were suspended.

US pressure apparently ensured that the ceasefire was not derailed and that Israeli crossings in Gaza were reopened on Monday. It is now clear that mediators must pay close attention to support the agreement and resolve important issues regarding the future of Gaza and Hamas.

Currently, the president’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have returned to the region, while Hamas negotiators are meeting with Egyptian mediators and Palestinian groups in Cairo.

Everyone is expected to discuss the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan; This phase includes the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza, the final withdrawal of the Israeli Armed Forces and, most importantly, the disarmament of Hamas.

Palestinians and Israelis were shaken by the latest collapse.

“I was with him 24 hours a day from the beginning of the war, I never left him,” father Shadi Abu Obeid, who could not hold back his tears at the funeral of his 14-year-old son Mohammed early on Monday, told the BBC in Khan Younis.

“Because of the ceasefire, I relaxed a little more and allowed him to go out with his friends,” Shadi added. “It was quiet and there had to be international guarantees.”

Mohammed was killed along with two others in an Israeli attack on a tent in Mawasi. The IDF did not comment on who or what specifically was targeted.

Local hospitals say at least 45 Palestinians have been killed after the IDF said it had hit “dozens of Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip.”

According to information obtained by the BBC, many members of Hamas’ armed wing, including a commander, were killed in an attack on a makeshift cafe in the center of Gaza. However, images taken elsewhere show that civilians, including children, were among the dead.

Trump’s envoys, who play a key role in negotiations with Hamas, were expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel before the latest events.

Before leaving the United States, the two men described in an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes how they violated diplomatic protocols to hold direct talks with Hamas leaders during ceasefire talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

This, they said, was intended to ensure that hostilities would not continue after the Israeli hostages were returned. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, said the president is “very, very comfortable” with such an approach.

He also said signs indicated Hamas was acting in “good faith” to return the bodies of the dead hostages; This was a key point of contention with Israel, which had threatened a ceasefire before Sunday’s events. Sixteen bodies have not yet been returned. Hamas said it had found another body that would be returned “when conditions allow.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump emphasized that the ceasefire remains and “we want to make sure it’s going to be very peaceful.”

As for Hamas’ threats of internal violence and showdowns in Gaza, he said Hamas was “pretty rambunctious” and “they opened some fire.” But he added that “maybe the leadership is not involved” and that it could be “some rebels inside”.

The IDF denied reports that Sunday’s actions were motivated by fighting between Hamas and Israeli-allied militias in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It was stated that Hamas launched many direct attacks with anti-tank missiles and gunfire against its soldiers in the region still under its control.

An Israeli government spokesman said forces were working near Rafah “to eliminate terrorist infrastructure in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.”

Hamas, which accused Israel of violating multiple ceasefires, said that communication with its remaining cells in Rafah had been cut off for months and that “it is not responsible for the events taking place in these regions.”

Recent events have caused Israeli commentators to once again focus on the weaknesses of the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas.

Amir Tibon, a journalist and writer in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, states that the newspaper is “full of vague statements that leave significant gaps.”

One of the issues he said he left unresolved was “the fate of Hamas fighters trapped in Israeli-held areas of Gaza when the ceasefire came into force.” The Israeli army currently holds about half of the so-called Yellow Line.

Israel Hayom military columnist Yoav Limor describes the conflict near Rafah as “a warning” and adds: “If Israel fails to establish firm and clear rules against Hamas, it may find itself on a slippery slope.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz appeared to do so by sending the message that all Hamas fighters in Israeli-controlled areas of Gaza beyond the Yellow Line must leave the area immediately and that Hamas leaders will be held accountable for their actions.

After Palestinians expressed confusion over the exact location of the line, the IDF released a video showing bulldozers pulling yellow blocks into place to mark the line.

On Monday, Palestinian health officials said three people were killed east of Gaza City as a result of Israeli gunfire. The IDF said its soldiers opened fire on “several terrorists” who crossed the Yellow Line in the Shejaiya area.

Harsh rhetoric and internal pressure on Netanyahu are expected to increase with the start of the winter session of the Israeli parliament and the internal elections to be held within the prime minister’s Likud party.

Netanyahu instructed the military to take “strong action” against violations of the agreement, but stopped short of threatening a return to war.

On the Palestinian side, Hamas spokesman Mohammed Nazzal told Al Jazeera that Hamas had submitted a list of more than 40 names suggested to mediators, calling for the rapid approval of a committee of politically independent Palestinian technocrats to govern Gaza.

But in a separate interview with Reuters, he said Hamas intends to maintain security control in Gaza temporarily, revealing another major obstacle to a complete end to the war in Gaza.

In the US, Vice President JD Vance downplayed the instability of the ceasefire, saying: “There will be crises.” He said this was “the best chance for a sustainable peace.”

Meanwhile, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to continue further meetings in Cairo. There are significant hurdles to overcome before further celebrations of the Gaza ceasefire can take place.