Israel launched a wave of attacks in Gaza after accusing Hamas of crossing the yellow ceasefire line, further straining President Donald Trump‘s vaunted peace plan.
The Gaza Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, reported at least 22 people were killed and 83 wounded in Israeli strikes against several areas in Gaza. Among these strikes was a kamikaze drone that struck a busy road, killing five and wounding seven. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes were in response to a Hamas fighter crossing into Israeli-held territory to attack Israel Defense Forces troops.
“Today, Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office read, arguing that it had honored the ceasefire while Hamas hasn’t.
“Throughout the ceasefire, dozens of Hamas terrorists have crossed the Israeli lines to attack our troops, while they execute Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” it added, insisting on the return of all hostages’s remains and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
A senior Hamas official speaking with Al Jazeera said the group was appealing to mediators to intervene to stop the ceasefire from collapsing altogether.
“We asked the mediators to intervene immediately to prevent the collapse of the agreement as the occupation intends,” he said.
“The systematic Zionist violations of the agreement have resulted in the martyrdom of hundreds due to ongoing raids and killings under fabricated pretexts. These violations have also led to changes in the occupation army’s withdrawal lines, contravening the agreed-upon maps,” Hamas said in an official statement.
The IDF also announced the killing of 11 Hamas militants and the capture of six others after they attempted to flee underground tunnels in Rafah, where they have been trapped since the ceasefire last month. After questioning, Israel now believes about 80 fighters are remaining in the tunnels, not the hundreds originally thought.
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The yellow line that Israel accused Hamas terrorists of crossing was agreed upon as part of the first phase of the Gaza peace deal, which Israel will gradually withdraw from. The Israeli-controlled area within the yellow line represents about 58% of Gaza territory.
The six-week-old ceasefire has held so far, though with periodic violations by each side. The Gaza Health Ministry claims 318 Palestinians have been killed and 788 wounded since the Oct. 10 ceasefire began.