The shaky truce between Israel and Hamas is being put to its greatest challenge yet. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for “strong action” on Sunday. After Hamas militants attacked Israeli soldiers in Rafah, leading to retaliatory air raids throughout Gaza.
Netanyahu summoned Defence Minister Israel Katz and top military commanders into an emergency meeting to evaluate the situation. “After the Hamas ceasefire breach, the Prime Minister ordered firm action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office released in a statement.
The move comes amid increasing concerns. The U.S.-brokered ceasefire, just a week old, is on the verge of crumbling. Israeli security officials confirmed the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza has been halted “until further notice” citing the Hamas violation of the deal.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-870968
Renewed Violence in Rafah
As per reports, Hamas militants had fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli engineering vehicles near Rafah early on Sunday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retaliated with air and artillery strikes against Hamas posts in southern Gaza.
Local sources reported that an improvised explosive device (IED) had exploded close to Israeli soldiers, wounding several of them. The IDF labelled the incident a “serious breach” of the ceasefire.
Hamas denied involvement, saying that contact with some of its forces in Rafah “had been interrupted for months.” It blamed Israel for creating “weak excuses” to resume airstrikes.
Gaza health authorities reported at least 19 Palestinians killed and dozens injured when Israeli warplanes bombed Hamas facilities in Rafah, Khan Younis, and central Gaza.
Rafah Crossing Closed Again
The Rafah border terminal from Gaza to Egypt — Gaza’s one and only exit not under direct Israeli control — has again become a hot point. On Saturday, Netanyahu declared it would stay closed indefinitely, tying its opening to Hamas’s willingness to cooperate with returning the bodies of dead hostages.
“The Rafah crossing will not open until notice,” said the Prime Minister’s Office. “Its status will be decided in accordance with Hamas’s observance of the agreed framework for bringing back hostages.”
Hamas released the bodies of two additional hostages on Saturday night, making 12 in total. They were identified by Israel as Ronen Engel, a Kibbutz Nir Oz father, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai farmworker. Both were suspected killed during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 raid.
A War Without End
The human cost of the Israel-Hamas war keeps rising. Gaza’s Health Ministry numbers 68,000 dead and many still missing since the war broke out. Israel estimates approximately 1,200 individuals, mostly civilians, were killed when Hamas launched its initial attack, and 251 people were taken as hostages.
The IDF returned150 Palestinian corpses, 15 of them on Sunday, Although many are yet to be identified. Ministry also posted photos online to help families identify their loved ones, a stark testament to the continued humanitarian crisis.
UN Humanitarian Chief Tom Fletcher characterized Gaza as “a wasteland,” with warnings that aid shipments — well short of the 600 daily trucks agreed under the ceasefire — are in danger of collapsing entirely.
The Ceasefire’s Uncertain Future
The ceasefire deal, negotiated by the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar, – designed to end two years of war through phased implementation:
returning hostages, scaling up aid, and eventually discussing Gaza’s governance. But renewed violence threatens that roadmap.
A Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya has arrived in Cairo on Sunday to negotiate the “second phase” of the agreement, including Israeli pullout from strategic locations and the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government to oversee Gaza after the war. Hamas maintains it will not be part of direct rule but is demanding “national consensus” among Palestinian groups.
Yet, with air raids resumed and the Rafah border closed, hope is quickly evaporating. “Each Gaza ceasefire is delicate,” admitted one Egyptian broker. “But this one might not last another week if the shooting does not stop.”
While both sides point fingers, civilians are caught in the middle between politics and bombs — hoping for peace that never seems more than an airstrike away.
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