Published on
•Updated
Israel has launched an attack in Rafah in Gaza, reportedly killing at least one person, as it continues to feud with Hamas over alleged violations of the fragile US-brokered ceasefire, which came into effect last week, aiming to end the war.
Israeli media reported “multiple attacks” carried out by the IDF in the late hours of Sunday morning, saying Hamas fighters clashed with Israeli troops stationed in the southern city.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly left a cabinet meeting to hold security consultations about the Rafah skirmishes.
There are also reports of injured Palestinians and possibly Israeli soldiers, after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated in the area.
Neither Hamas nor the IDF or Israeli lawmakers have officially commented on the incident yet.
Hamas has also accused Israel of violating the ceasefire close to 50 times, since it came into force.
The Gaza-based group says Israel has killed dozens of Palestinians, via direct open-fire against civilians, sponsoring armed insurgents to orchestrate killings and unrest and through continued acts of intimidation and aggression against civilians.
“These violations have included crimes of direct gunfire against civilians, deliberate shelling and targeting, and the arrest of a number of civilians, reflecting the occupation’s continued policy of aggression despite the declared end of the war,” said Hamas in a statement earlier this week.
Hamas also accused Israel of violating a major term in the ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump, which stipulated that all land crossings into Gaza, including the main one – Rafah – are to be opened to enable large-scale aid operations.
The deal also stipulated that aid is to flow into the enclave at pre-war levels of 600 trucks a day. It has since been limited by the Israeli defence body overseeing the aid operations, COGAT, to half that, at 300 trucks daily.
Netanyahu on Saturday announced that the Rafah border will remain shut, and aid will continue to be limited, instead accusing Hamas of not living up to its end of the bargain.
Both parties agreed in the deal to exchange prisoners and hostages in the first phase of Trump’s plan.
Hamas held 20 living hostages and the remains of 28 deceased hostages, which it was required to return to Israel earlier this week on Monday.
The group has so far returned all 20 living hostages and 12 of the 28 dead hostages. Netanyahu says Israel will tolerate a breach of this clause of the agreement, and has threatened to resume fighting “until the very last hostage is returned”.
Hamas says it is unable to retrieve the remaining hostages as their remains are trapped underneath heavy rubble. The group has requested heavy excavation equipment to remove the rubble and retrieve them, but Israel has not provided or allowed such machinery to enter Gaza.
Additional sources • AP