Israel strikes Gaza after saying Hamas attacked across ceasefire line

Israel struck targets in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday after saying its troops had come under fire from Hamas militants, in the first major test of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire intended to end more than two years of war.

Members of the Palestinian group used an RPG and Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery, the army said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations with Israeli security officials and ordered the army to take “strong action” against any violations of the ceasefire, but did not threaten a return to war.

Hamas said it was not linked to any clashes in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The strikes came as Israel identified the remains of two hostages freed by Hamas overnight, and the Palestinian group said talks to launch the second phase of ceasefire negotiations had begun.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai farm worker killed on Kibbutz Beeri.

Both were reportedly killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and their bodies were transported to Gaza. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released during a ceasefire in November 2023.

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to keep the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed “until further notice”. The statement from Netanyahu’s office said the reopening of Rafah will depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of the 28 deceased hostages.

Last week, Hamas handed over the remains of 13 bodies, 12 of which were identified as hostages. Israel said one of the released bodies did not belong to a hostage.

Israel released 150 Palestinian bodies into Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor indicated how they died. The ministry posted photos of dozens of bodies on its website to help families and relatives trying to find their loved ones, but the bodies were decomposed, blackened and some were missing limbs and teeth. Only 25 bodies have been identified, the health ministry said.

After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 live hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of the remains of deceased hostages and prisoners remains a major issue in the first stage of the ceasefire proposed by US President Donald Trump. A major increase in aid, including the opening of the Rafah border crossing, for humanitarian aid and people entering or leaving Gaza, is the other central issue.

The next steps of the ceasefire will focus on the disarmament of Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and the future governance of the devastated territory.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that militants fired on soldiers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, in areas controlled by Israel, in line with agreed ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. A senior Hamas official denied any Hamas involvement. Hamas and Israel have accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Hamas says talks with mediators to begin the second phase of the ceasefire have begun.

Hazem Kassem, Hamas spokesman, said in a statement Saturday evening that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He also said Hamas had started discussions to “consolidate its positions,” without providing further details.

Under Trump’s plan, negotiations will include the disarmament of Hamas and the creation of an internationally-backed authority to manage the war-torn Gaza Strip.

Kassem reiterated that the group will not be part of the ruling authority in the post-war Gaza Strip. Hamas-led government bodies in the Gaza Strip manage daily affairs to avoid a power vacuum, he said.

“Government agencies in Gaza continue to carry out their tasks, because the vacuum is very dangerous, and this will continue until an administrative committee is formed and accepted by all Palestinian factions,” he said.

Kassem called for the rapid creation of a community support committee, a body of Palestinian technocrats, charged with managing daily affairs.

Israel did not open the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, aiming to pressure Hamas into returning more hostage bodies. Hamas says it needs special equipment to locate additional hostage bodies, but Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.

The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gazan side. A fully reopened crossing would allow Palestinians to seek medical care, travel or visit family in Egypt, where tens of thousands of Palestinians live.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those wishing to leave Gaza, staff from the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo will be present at the crossing point to issue temporary travel documents allowing entry into Egypt. Palestinians wishing to enter the Gaza Strip will need to request the corresponding entry documents from the Cairo embassy.

The war between Israel and Hamas has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government in the territory. Its figures are considered a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by United Nations agencies and many independent experts. Israel disputed them without providing its own assessment.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.

The group on Sunday rejected a claim by the US State Department that it had credible information of an imminent Hamas attack on Gaza residents.

“This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and serious violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress made through mediation efforts,” the US State Department said in a statement on Saturday.

Hamas called the claims “false allegations” and accused Israel of supporting armed groups operating in areas controlled by Israel. Hamas urged the US administration to pressure Israel to stop supporting the gangs and “provide them with safe haven”.

Hamas-led fighters clashed with at least two armed groups in eastern Gaza City, which the group says are involved in looting aid and collaborating with Israel. They executed a handful of suspects in public, in widely condemned street killings.

The Interior Ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, said its forces were working to restore law and order in areas from which the Israeli army withdrew after the ceasefire.