Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced a serious test on Sunday after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 36 Palestinians, including children, following what Israel said was the killing of two soldiers by Hamas militants.
The Israeli military later said it was again enforcing the ceasefire, while a senior security official confirmed that humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza would resume Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The latest violence came just over a week after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire took effect, aimed at ending two years of war between Israel and Hamas. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that the truce “remains in place,” though he acknowledged “fits and starts” in its implementation. “Hamas has been quite rambunctious,” Trump said, suggesting that the latest violence could be the work of “rebels” rather than top leadership.
Vice President JD Vance said he may visit Israel in the coming days to assess the situation, noting the ceasefire “will have ups and downs.”
Health officials in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 36 people across the territory, including 24 in Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza. Other strikes hit a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida, killing six, while attacks in Beit Lahiya and Khan Younis left at least six more dead, including a woman and two children.
“It will be a nightmare if the war returns,” said Mahmoud Hashim, a father of five in Gaza City, appealing for international intervention.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations but stopped short of threatening a return to full-scale war. The army said militants opened fire in parts of Rafah under Israeli control as per ceasefire terms. Hamas denied responsibility, saying communication with units in those areas had been severed for months.
Israel on Sunday identified two more hostages whose remains were handed over by Hamas — Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Thai worker Sonthaya Oakkharasri from Kibbutz Be’eri. Both were believed killed in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war. Hamas has returned the remains of 12 hostages over the past week.
Meanwhile, Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo for talks with mediators and Palestinian factions on the next phase of the ceasefire. Discussions are expected to cover Hamas’s disarmament, Israeli troop withdrawal from remaining areas of Gaza, and the formation of a postwar governing authority backed by the international community.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said the group would not join any future ruling body in Gaza but supported forming a technocratic administration to prevent a power vacuum.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and abducted 251 others during the October 2023 attack on southern Israel, sparking the devastating conflict.
Source: AP