Ceasefire on the Brink: Israel Accuses Hamas of Breach Amid Renewed Strikes in Gaza
Renewed clashes, Israeli airstrikes, and disputes over hostage remains push the fragile Gaza ceasefire to the brink of collapse.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The fragile ceasefire in Gaza appeared on the verge of collapse on Sunday after Israel accused Hamas of carrying out multiple attacks against its forces, prompting renewed Israeli airstrikes in the south of the territory.
An Israeli military official told AFP that Hamas militants launched several assaults “beyond the Yellow Line,” referring to the demarcation separating Israeli and Palestinian positions inside Gaza.
“The terror organization Hamas carried out multiple attacks against Israeli forces beyond the Yellow Line,” the official said, describing the incidents as a “bold violation” of the truce.
According to witnesses and local media reports, Israeli aircraft struck parts of southern Gaza’s Rafah district, where brief clashes reportedly erupted earlier in the day.
Two Palestinian residents told AFP that fighting broke out in an area still under Israeli control, followed by two airstrikes.
The Israeli official, without confirming the strikes, said Hamas fighters used sniper fire and a rocket-propelled grenade against Israeli troops operating east of Rafah.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Sunday that the body of a Thai farmworker, Sonthaya Oakkharasri, was among two hostages returned overnight by Hamas.
Oakkharasri was killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel, during which militants seized hundreds of hostages and brought them into Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas warned that the continued closure of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza was causing “significant delays” in the retrieval and transfer of hostages’ remains.
The group said the blockade prevents the entry of essential forensic equipment and teams needed to recover and identify bodies buried under rubble from months of bombardment.
As the truce faces mounting strain, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the war in Gaza will only end once a second phase of the ceasefire — focused on the “complete disarmament of Hamas” — is achieved.
“The devastating war in Gaza will truly conclude only after the total demilitarization of Hamas,” Netanyahu declared, signaling a hardening stance despite international calls for de-escalation.
His remarks have effectively redefined the terms of peace, tying any lasting cessation of hostilities to a condition Hamas is unlikely to accept.
The United States, a key mediator in the truce deal, has expressed growing alarm over renewed violence. Washington said it had received “credible reports” that Hamas was planning attacks against Palestinian civilians — a move the State Department warned would constitute a “grave violation” of the ceasefire.
The week-old truce, which brought a brief pause to nearly two years of devastating warfare, is now teetering amid mutual distrust, renewed hostilities, and unresolved disputes over the handling of hostage remains.
With both sides trading accusations and airstrikes resuming, hopes for a sustainable peace in Gaza appear increasingly uncertain.
