Saturday was one of the deadliest days since the truce between Israel and Hamas took effect after two years of war. The Israeli military stated that an “armed terrorist” had crossed the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip—a boundary behind which Israeli forces had withdrawn—and fired at Israeli soldiers.
In response to the incident, which the military said occurred on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries in southern Gaza, the Israeli military announced it “began striking terror targets in the Gaza Strip.” Israel has conducted similar waves of strikes previously following reported attacks on its forces during the ceasefire. Earlier this week, at least 33 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed over a 12-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday, according to health officials. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported that 312 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire as of Thursday since the truce was established.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of breaching the agreement, stating on X: “Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists.”
In turn, Hamas condemned the Israeli strikes, calling the “escalation” an “attempt to undermine the ceasefire” and urged international mediators to intervene immediately. The Palestinian foreign ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, also condemned the strikes and called on the international community to put “immediate pressure” on Israel to “stop the massacres.”
The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, noted that efforts to scale up aid deliveries into Gaza are still being hindered by restrictions on visas, import approvals, and a lack of open crossing points. Displaced Palestinians in Gaza expressed deep frustration, with one telling AFP that the ceasefire was “pointless” due to the ongoing lack of essential supplies.
The conflict was originally sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed 1,221 people. Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 69,733 Palestinians, according to the health ministry. (TNIE)
For more details: Navamalayalam.com
