Israel strikes Gaza after accusing Hamas of violating US-brokered ceasefire

JERUSALEM/CAIRO, October 29 ------ Israeli planes launched strikes in Gaza after Israel accused the militant group Hamas of violating a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory, the latest test of a fragile deal brokered earlier this month by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Local health authorities said the strikes killed at least 26 people, including five in a house hit in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, four in a building in Gaza City's Sabra neighborhood, and five in a car in Khan Younis. The attacks by Israeli planes continued into early Wednesday across the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, the latest violence in a three-week-old ceasefire, which followed a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying he had ordered immediate "powerful attacks." The statement did not give a specific reason for the attacks, but an Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces in an area of the enclave that is under Israeli control. "This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire," the official said.

The U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement went into effect on October 10, halting two years of war triggered by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, part of a parade of Trump administration officials who visited Israel last week, said that despite the latest flare-up, "the ceasefire is holding." "That doesn't mean that there aren't going to be little skirmishes here and there," he told reporters on Capitol Hill. "We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an (Israeli) soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the president's peace is going to hold despite that."

NETANYAHU ACCUSES HAMAS OF VIOLATING CEASEFIRE

Netanyahu said earlier on Tuesday that Hamas had violated the ceasefire by turning over some wrong remains in a process of returning the bodies of hostages to Israel. Netanyahu said the remains handed over on Monday belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, an Israeli killed during Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack. Tzarfati's remains had already been partially retrieved by Israeli troops during the war.

Hamas initially said in response to this that it would hand over to Israel on Tuesday the body of a missing hostage found in a tunnel in Gaza. However, Hamas' armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, said later it would postpone the planned handover, citing what it said were Israel's violations of the ceasefire.

Source: reuters.com