Gaza violence threatens Israel-Hamas ceasefire: NPR

The Israeli government says it has responded to attacks on its troops by Hamas militants in southern Gaza with a sudden escalation of violence that threatens to derail a fragile ceasefire in force for less than a week.

The Israeli Defense Forces said Sunday that “terrorists” had attacked Israeli troops operating in the Rafah region with fire and an anti-tank missile.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “ordered strong measures to be taken against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a statement. post on.

The Israeli military said it struck the area to respond to the attacks and also to dismantle tunnel shafts and other structures used by Hamas, calling the violence against its troops a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

THE The IDF later said On Sunday, it launched a series of strikes against Hamas in southern Gaza “in response to the blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement earlier in the day.”

Hamas said in a statement that it had been cut off from its remaining groups in the Rafah region and was “unaware” of the violence taking place there, and added that it remained fully committed to the ceasefire agreement, the The BBC reported. Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq also accused Israel in a statement Sunday of “violating the agreement and fabricating pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas is waging a deadly crackdown on rival militias and clans in Gaza, but it is unclear whether Sunday’s violence is linked to it. THE The US State Department said As of Saturday, he had “credible reports” that Hamas was planning an attack on Palestinian civilians that would violate the terms of the ceasefire.

Also on Saturday, an Israeli attack on a bus in Gaza City killed a family of 11 who were returning to visit their ruined home, according to Gaza health authorities. The family had seven children, the youngest of whom was five years old.

Israeli forces said the bus was beyond the yellow line that Gazans were warned not to cross, and that troops were facing an “imminent threat” before firing a tank shell at the vehicle.

The Gaza media office accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement 47 times since the ceasefire took effect. Tutor reported.

The ceasefire agreement negotiated by the United States included the release of the remaining 20 Israeli hostages held in Gaza following the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7 more than two years ago. In exchange, Israel liberated nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas also returned the bodies of some Israeli hostages who died in Gaza. Israeli authorities have identified the bodies of two hostages who returned from Gaza on Saturday evening as Ronen Engel and Sontaya Oakkharasri. Engel, 54 at the time of his death, was killed while trying to protect his family during the October 7 attacks. His wife and daughters were released by Hamas in November. Oakkharasri was a Thai national who was also killed in the October 7 attacks.

Sixteen deceased Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, according to the Israeli government.

The Israeli government says 1,144 people were killed in the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas in 2023. The two-year war that began following these attacks has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

NPR’s Rob Schmitz and Jane Arraf contributed reporting.