The fragile truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to falter on Sunday as Israeli forces launched fresh strikes on Gaza, according to local media reports. The renewed violence has cast a shadow over hopes that the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, now in its second week, could pave the way for lasting peace in the war-torn enclave.
An Israeli military official told Reuters that Hamas fighters had carried out multiple assaults against Israeli troops stationed inside Gaza, including a rocket-propelled grenade and a sniper attack. “Both of the incidents happened in an Israeli-controlled area… This is a bold violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
However, senior Hamas official Izzat Al Risheq accused Israel of breaking the truce first, insisting that the group remained committed to the agreement. “Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire,” Al Risheq said, without directly addressing reports of the Israeli airstrikes.
The government media office in Gaza claimed that Israel had breached the ceasefire 47 times since it came into effect, resulting in the deaths of 38 people and injuries to 143 others.
Tensions also escalated over the status of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Israel announced that it would keep the crossing closed “until further notice,” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stating that reopening would depend on Hamas returning the remains of all 28 hostages believed to have been killed.
Israel Identifies Two Hostage Victims
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli authorities confirmed the identification of two hostages whose remains were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas the previous night. The victims were named as Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be’eri.
Both men were believed to have been killed during Hamas’s October 7 assault, with their bodies taken into Gaza. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his children were among those kidnapped but later released during a truce in November 2023.
According to Israeli officials, Hamas has so far returned 13 bodies, 12 of whom have been identified as hostages. One of the bodies was later determined not to belong to a hostage.
The exchange of remains, alongside the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and discussions on the enclave’s future governance, remain central to the ceasefire agreement struck on October 10 — a deal aimed at halting more than two years of devastating conflict.
