This Sunday, Israel bombed several areas of the Gaza Strip, after an attack using anti-tank missiles against the Israeli military on a mission in the Rafah area (south) left two dead and three injured.
Hamas denied any connection to the attack on Israeli forces. “We are committed to the ceasefire in all areas of the Gaza Strip,” said the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in a statement.
“We have no information about incidents or clashes that occurred in the Rafah area, which is under occupation control,” they added. “Our connection to the groups located there has been broken since last March. We have no connection with any events that occurred in that area and we have no way of communicating with our fighters there, if any of them are still alive.”
The attack on Rafah prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ordering the army to “strike heavily on terrorist targets” in the Gaza Strip. A drone targeted a cafe located in the center of the territory, close to the Rashid Highway, which crosses Gaza from north to south, a few meters from the sea. Bombings were also recorded in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Sources in Gaza cited by Al-Jazeera Arabic television say that the Israeli attacks caused at least 42 deaths.
“Hamas will pay a high price for every shot fired and for every violation of the ceasefire. If the message is not understood, the intensity of our response will intensify”, threatened Netanyahu’s office in a statement.
But for now, officially, the ceasefire remains in place. “We are currently in a ceasefire, but soldiers are allowed to protect themselves,” Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said in a virtual press conference.
Next to Rafah, a line of aid trucks waiting to enter the Gaza Strip
Ahmed Sayed / Anadolu / Getty Images
The deadly attack on Israeli troops in Rafah led to the temporary suspension of humanitarian aid entry into the territory. “A large number of trucks” with food, medical and hygiene supplies “returned” to the Egyptian side of the border, the Egyptian Red Crescent reported. A convoy of around 200 trucks had headed to the Kerem Shalom and Al-Auja border posts, controlled by Israel, to be inspected before entering Gaza.
The Rafah crossing, which directly connects Egypt to the Gaza Strip, remains closed. Its opening was scheduled for this Monday, but Netanyahu said it will remain closed “until further notice”. Its opening “will be considered depending on how Hamas fulfills its part, returning the hostages and implementing what was agreed”.
Meanwhile, this Sunday, the al-Qassam Brigades announced that they had found the body of an Israeli hostage during search operations and they offered to return the body during the day “if local conditions allow”. Any “escalation of the conflict” carried out by Israel will make it difficult to search, excavate and recover the bodies, which will delay the return, the group warned.
The search for bodies of Israeli hostages is closely monitored by members of the Red Cross
HAITHAM IMAD/EPA
Israel also demands the return of 16 bodies of hostages taken in the attack on October 7, 2023. If it is confirmed that this body belongs to a hostage, it will be the 13th of 28 bodies that Hamas promised to deliver to Israel, under the ceasefire agreement that came into force on October 10. However, the Palestinian group has already admitted to having lost track of some bodies in the daily chaos of the Gaza Strip.
In the late afternoon of this Sunday, the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Eyal Zamir, said that the deadly attack in Rafah is a “flagrant violation of the agreement by Hamas” and that “Troops must remain on high alert. We are prepared and preparing for any scenario.”
Quoted by the Israeli newspaper “The Times of Israel”, an unnamed security official said that “Israel does not want to cause the ceasefire to collapse. There is only a direct relationship between a violation and a response — and this will continue as long as Hamas continues to violate the agreement.” The border between Gaza and Egypt appears to have become “a tipping point for potential escalation.”
The same person in charge warned: This area “andis ostensibly under Israeli control, but [em túneis subterrâneos que permanecem operacionais] Hamas terrorists are in hiding — trying to harass Israeli forces under the cover of the ceasefire, even without explicit orders from their commanders.”
This news was updated at 9 pm with the number of deaths caused by Israeli attacks this Sunday in the Gaza Strip.
The post War has returned to the Gaza Strip, but Israel guarantees that the ceasefire remains in force appeared first on Veritas News.
