An Israeli military official told Reuters that Hamas had violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli troops in Israeli-controlled territory.
Prime Minister Netanyahu orders attack amid ceasefire agreement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement and ordered the military to “carry out a strong offensive” in Gaza.
JERUSALEM, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Israeli warplanes launched an attack on Gaza City on Tuesday, October 28, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group Hamas of violating a cease-fire agreement in the Palestinian territories and ordered the military to launch a “strong offensive.”
At least two people were killed and four injured in an attack on a residential building in Gaza City’s Sabra district, according to Gazan officials, witnesses and Hamas media, and an area near Shifa Hospital, the largest operating hospital in northern Gaza, was also attacked.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack, which was the latest violence in an uneasy three-week ceasefire and followed a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office saying he had ordered the immediate attack.
The statement did not give a specific reason for the attack, but Israeli military officials said Hamas violated the ceasefire by carrying out attacks against Israeli forces in areas of the enclave under Israeli control.
“This is another blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official said.
The US-backed ceasefire took effect on October 10, halting a two-year war that began with a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and devastated a narrow coastal strip.
Both sides have accused each other of violations.
On Saturday, October 25, Israel announced that its military had carried out a “targeted attack” against an individual who was planning an attack on Israeli forces in central Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu accuses Hamas of violating ceasefire
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire agreement by handing over the wrong remains of hostages in the process of returning them to Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the remains handed over on Monday were those of Israeli citizen Ofir Tsarfati, who was killed in a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Zarfati’s body had already been partially recovered by Israeli forces during the war.
In response, Hamas initially announced it would hand over the bodies of missing hostages found in tunnels in the Gaza Strip to Israel on Tuesday. However, Hamas’s militant group Al-Qassam Brigades later announced that the planned extradition would be postponed, citing Israeli ceasefire violations.
Israeli media earlier reported a gunfight between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
Hamas has abided by ceasefire terms and Netanyahu has said he is looking for an excuse to escape Israel’s obligations.
Under ceasefire terms, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian convicts and wartime detainees, while Israel withdrew its troops and halted its attacks.
search for hostage bodies
Hamas also agreed to hand over the remains of all deceased hostages that have not yet been recovered, but said it would take time to find and recover the bodies in the ruins of Gaza. Israel says the militants have access to the remains of most of the hostages.
The issue has been one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire, and US President Donald Trump has said he is monitoring the issue closely.
The search for the hostage bodies has intensified in recent days after heavy equipment arrived from Egypt. On Tuesday, bulldozers worked in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip and in Nuseyrat further north, with Hamas fighters deployed around the bulldozers.
Some of the bodies are believed to be in a network of Hamas tunnels running underground in Gaza.
Witnesses in Khan Younis said Egyptian military teams, working with armed Hamas fighters, were digging deep near the Qatari-funded Hamad residential city west of Khan Younis to reach the tunnel shaft.
Images from Reuters showed the excavation site more than a dozen meters below the surface, with Hamas members appearing to be searching for bodies at the bottom of a ditch next to the tunnel opening.
Gaza health authorities say 68,000 people have been confirmed dead in Israeli airstrikes, with thousands more missing. Israel began the war after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and returning 251 hostages to Gaza.
