Israeli planes launched strikes on Gaza City on Tuesday (Oct 28) after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group Hamas of violating a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory and ordered the military to carry out “powerful attacks”.
The Israeli strikes targeted an area close to Shifa hospital, the largest operational hospital in northern Gaza, witnesses and Hamas media said. There was no word yet on any casualties.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, which were the latest violence in a fragile three-week-old ceasefire and which followed a statement by Netanyahu’s office saying he had ordered immediate 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 US-backed ceasefire agreement went into effect on Oct 10, halting two years of war that was triggered by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct 7, 2023 and that has devastated the narrow coastal strip.
Both sides have accused each other of violations.
On Saturday, Israel said its forces carried out a “targeted strike” on a person in central Gaza who was planning to attack Israeli troops.
NETANYAHU ACCUSES HAMAS OF VIOLATING CEASEFIRE
Earlier on Tuesday Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating 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’ 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.
Israeli media earlier reported an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.
Hamas said it was complying with the ceasefire terms and Netanyahu was looking for excuses to back away from Israel’s obligations.
Under the ceasefire terms, Hamas released all living hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees, while Israel pulled back its troops and halted its offensive.
SEARCH FOR HOSTAGE BODIES
Hamas has also agreed to hand over the remains of all dead hostages yet to be recovered, but has said that it will take time to locate and retrieve the bodies in the enclave, which has been devastated by two years of war. Israel says the militant group can access the remains of most of the hostages.
The issue has become one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire, which US President Donald Trump says he is watching closely.
The search for hostage bodies stepped up over the past few days after the arrival of heavy machinery from Egypt. Bulldozers were working in Khan Younis on Tuesday, in the southern Gaza Strip, and further north in Nuseirat, as Hamas fighters deployed around them.
Some of the bodies are believed to be in Hamas’ network of tunnels running below Gaza.
Witnesses in Khan Younis said the Egyptian teams, working with armed Hamas fighters, were digging deep near the Qatari-funded Hamad Housing City in the western side of Khan Younis, reaching tunnel shafts.
Reuters images showed an excavation a dozen or so metres below the surface, with Hamas men at the bottom of the trench next to a tunnel opening in an apparent search for bodies inside.
Gaza health authorities say 68,000 people are confirmed killed in the Israeli strikes and thousands more are missing. Israel launched the war after Hamas-led fighters stormed through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and bringing 251 hostages back to Gaza.
Source: CNA
-Agencies
