Israel strikes Gaza as both IDF and Hamas accuse each other of breaching ceasefire

Israel’s government says it has responded to attacks against its troops by Hamas militants in southern Gaza, in a sudden escalation of violence that threatens to derail a fragile ceasefire that has been in effect for less than a week.

The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that “terrorists” had attacked Israeli troops operating in the Rafah area with gunfire and an anti-tank missile.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “directed that strong action be taken against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a post on X.

The IDF said it struck the area to respond to the attacks and also to dismantle tunnel shafts and other structures used by Hamas, calling the violence against its troops a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement.”

The IDF said later on Sunday that it was beginning a series of strikes against Hamas in southern Gaza “in response to the blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement earlier today.”

Hamas said in a statement that it had been cut off from its remaining groups in the Rafah area and was “unaware” of any violence taking place there, and added that it remained fully committed to the ceasefire agreement, the BBC reported. Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq also accused Israel in a statement on Sunday of “violating the deal and fabricating pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas has been carrying out a deadly crackdown against rival militias and clans in Gaza, but it’s unclear if Sunday’s violence was connected to that. The U.S. State Department said Saturday that it had “credible reports” that Hamas was planning an attack against Palestinian civilians that would violate the terms of the ceasefire.

Also on Saturday, an Israeli attack on a bus in Gaza City killed a family of 11 people returning to visit their ruined home, according to Gaza health authorities. The family included seven children, the youngest of whom was five years old.

Israeli forces said the bus was beyond the yellow line Gazans have been warned not to cross, and that troops faced an “imminent threat” before firing a tank shell at the vehicle.

Gaza’s media office has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement 47 times since the ceasefire took effect, the Guardian reported.

The ceasefire agreement brokered by the U.S. included the release of all of the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7th attacks more than two years ago. In exchange, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has also returned the bodies of some Israeli hostages who died in Gaza. Israeli officials identified the bodies of two hostages returned from Gaza late Saturday as Ronen Engel and Sontaya Oakkharasri. Engel, 54 when he died, was killed while trying to protect his family during the Oct. 7th attacks. His wife and daughters were freed by Hamas that November. Oakkharasri was a Thai national who was also killed in the Oct. 7th attacks.

Sixteen deceased Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israel’s government.

The Israeli government says 1,144 people were killed in the Oct. 7th attacks led by Hamas in 2023. The two-year war that began in the wake of those attacks have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

NPR’s Rob Schmitz and Jane Arraf contributed reporting.