Israeli warplanes pounded several areas of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night and into early Wednesday after Israel accused Hamas of violating a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire, in the most serious escalation since the truce took effect earlier this month.
Local health authorities in Gaza said at least 26 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes, including five in a house in the Bureij refugee camp, four in a residential building in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood, and five in a car in Khan Younis.
Witnesses reported explosions across the enclave throughout the night, including near Shifa Hospital, the largest operational medical facility in northern Gaza. Two more people were wounded in a strike on a tent in Zawayda in central Gaza.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attacks, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered “powerful attacks” after accusing Hamas of “blatantly violating the ceasefire.”
An Israeli military official claimed that Hamas fighters attacked Israeli forces in an area under Israeli control, breaching the truce that has held, albeit tenuously, since October 10.
The U.S.-mediated ceasefire, announced by President Donald Trump, paused two years of intense warfare that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and led to Israel’s devastating campaign in Gaza.
Both sides have since accused each other of violations.
Despite the renewed fighting, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said in Washington that the ceasefire “is holding.” Speaking to reporters, he noted that “there are going to be little skirmishes here and there,” but insisted that “the president’s peace is going to hold despite that.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli media reported an exchange of fire in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. Hamas denied any involvement, saying it “remains committed to the ceasefire deal.”
Netanyahu separately accused Hamas of handing over incorrect remains during the ongoing process of returning hostages’ bodies to Israel, calling it another breach of the truce.
Israel said remains handed over on Monday belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, an Israeli killed in 2023 whose body had already been partially recovered. Hamas later postponed another planned handover, citing what it described as Israeli violations.
Late Tuesday, Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades said it had recovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages, Amiram Cooper and Sahar Baruch, during searches in Gaza. The group accused Netanyahu of “looking for excuses to back away from Israel’s obligations.”
Under the ceasefire, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, while Israel halted its offensive and withdrew most of its troops.
Hamas also agreed to return the remains of all hostages killed in captivity, though it says locating them amid Gaza’s destruction has proved difficult.
Excavations have intensified in recent days, with Egyptian teams using heavy machinery in Khan Younis and Nuseirat to help Hamas locate remains believed to be buried in the group’s tunnel network.
Witnesses described deep digging near the Qatari-funded Hamad Housing City, where Hamas fighters oversaw recovery operations.
According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 68,000 people have been killed and thousands remain missing since Israel began its campaign in 2023.
The White House did not comment on whether Israel informed Washington before Tuesday’s strikes.
The new wave of violence threatens to unravel what the Trump administration has billed as one of its major foreign policy achievements, a ceasefire that, for now, hangs in the balance.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
