Israel carried out a brand new wave of strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, reportedly killing at least nine people in Gaza Metropolis and Khan Younis. The transfer threatens to break down the already tenuous truce between Israel and Hamas, which might doubtlessly upend U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
The assault occurred after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the nation’s army to right away perform “forceful strikes” in Gaza over Hamas’s alleged violations of the U.S.-brokered cease-fire settlement. Hamas responded to Netanyahu’s order by asserting that it could delay the return of hostage stays that was set to happen on Tuesday.
Israel carried out a brand new wave of strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, reportedly killing at least nine people in Gaza Metropolis and Khan Younis. The transfer threatens to break down the already tenuous truce between Israel and Hamas, which might doubtlessly upend U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
The assault occurred after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the nation’s army to right away perform “forceful strikes” in Gaza over Hamas’s alleged violations of the U.S.-brokered cease-fire settlement. Hamas responded to Netanyahu’s order by asserting that it could delay the return of hostage stays that was set to happen on Tuesday.
Israel accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire with an assault on Israeli forces within the southern metropolis of Rafah, although Hamas denied involvement. As the method of recovering deceased hostages nonetheless in Gaza continues, Israel has additionally accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire by returning the unsuitable stays on Monday.
Hamas allegedly returned the partial stays of Ofir Tzarfati—a hostage whose physique was already recovered by Israel in late 2023. Israel said this was a “clear violation” of the peace deal and released video footage on Tuesday that it stated confirmed Hamas staging the restoration of Tzarfati’s stays.
Returning all of the hostages to Israel is a key stipulation of the settlement. All of the dwelling hostages have been returned, as have the our bodies of 15 deceased hostages; nonetheless, the stays of 13 hostages are nonetheless in Gaza.
Hamas has known as for extra time to recuperate the our bodies, pointing to difficulties introduced by the devastation throughout Gaza after greater than two years of warfare, however Israel has accused the group of intentionally delaying their return.
It’s unclear whether or not Trump, who’s touring in Asia this week, helps Netanyahu’s order for the Israeli army to conduct new strikes. The White Home didn’t provide a remark when contacted by Overseas Coverage. Regardless of the flare-up in violence, Vice President J.D. Vance stated throughout a go to to Capitol Hill on Tuesday stated “the cease-fire is holding.”
“That doesn’t imply that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes right here and there,” Vance added. “We all know that Hamas or any individual else inside Gaza attacked an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldier. We count on the Israelis are going to reply—however I feel the president’s peace goes to carry.”
For the reason that cease-fire started on Oct. 10, the Trump administration has spent considerable time and energy making certain that it’s upheld, together with by sending high officers and troops to Israel to supervise the method. Trump and his allies have touted the settlement as a significant foreign-policy achievement for the president, although many features of the deal stay unresolved. The cease-fire is now susceptible to falling aside, which might deal a doubtlessly deadly blow to Trump’s peace plan.
That stated, this isn’t the primary occasion of violence because the truce started. Israel carried out strikes on Oct. 19 after accusing Hamas of violating the cease-fire with an assault that killed two Israeli troopers. The cease-fire finally resumed, however Israel additionally carried out a strike towards one other Palestinian militant group in Gaza, Islamic Jihad, on Saturday. Israel accused the Hamas-aligned group of planning an assault on Israeli troops—an allegation that Islamic Jihad denied.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the administration didn’t view the weekend strike as a violation of the cease-fire.
