At least 33 Palestinians were killed in a series of Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Civil Defence agency and hospital officials, amid accusations Israel breached a U.S-brokered ceasefire.
The violence came after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz accused Hamas of attacking Israeli soldiers in Gaza and violating hostage-return terms of the deal. The strikes mark one of the most serious challenges to fragile truce efforts and raise concerns about the ceasefire’s durability.
The Israeli strikes struck homes, schools and residential buildings in Gaza City, Beit Lahia, al-Bureij, Nuseirat and Khan Younis, Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said. A spokesman noted rescue teams were “working amid extremely difficult conditions due to continuous bombing and lack of equipment. Some of the missing are still under the rubble, and we fear the death toll will rise.”
Katz warned that Hamas had crossed “a bright red line” by targeting soldiers and by failing to fulfil the agreement on returning hostages. He said: “Hamas will pay many times over for attacking the soldiers and for violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages.”
Hamas denied any involvement and reaffirmed its commitment to the agreement, saying it “has no connection to the shooting incidents and affirms its commitment to the cease-fire agreement.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said nothing will jeopardise the ceasefire, but added that Israel “should hit back” if its soldiers are targeted.
The truce, brokered by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, required Hamas to return 48 living and deceased hostages within 72 hours of the ceasefire taking effect on October 10. Twenty living Israeli hostages were freed by October 13 in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees. Israel has since returned the bodies of 195 Palestinians in return for 13 Israeli hostages’ remains. Eleven dead Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, along with two foreign nationals (one Tanzanian, one Thai).
The incident that triggered one of the rounds of strikes involved a coffin handed over by Hamas that forensic tests showed contained remains of an Israeli hostage previously recovered by the Israeli military. Israel described this as a “clear violation” of the deal.
A drone video released by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claimed Hamas operatives planted the remains and staged the recovery process. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated it attended the scene “in good faith” and said it was not aware a body had been placed there in advance.
Both sides claim the current ceasefire remains in force despite the escalation. Yet, the deadly strikes and accusations of breaches threaten to unravel the truce at a sensitive moment when negotiations for a broader settlement are ongoing.
Africa Digital News, New York
