Israel says ceasefire back in effect after Gaza strikes kill at least 104 people

Thomson Reuters

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it will abide by a ceasefire accord in Gaza, as health officials in the enclave said airstrikes had killed 104 people, with both sides trading blame for violations of the deal.

Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza late on Tuesday, saying it mounted the strikes after an attack by Palestinian militants killed one soldier, the latest challenge to an already fragile ceasefire.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it would continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and would respond firmly to "any violation."

U.S. President Donald Trump said that the U.S.-backed ceasefire was not at risk even as Israeli planes struck across Gaza, with Israel and Hamas trading blame for breaches of the truce.

Gazan health authorities said the Israeli strikes killed at least 104 people, including five in a house hit in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, four in a building in Gaza City's Sabra neighborhood, and five in a car in Khan Younis.

"As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

"So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back," he added.

The Israeli military confirmed the soldier's death on Wednesday.

"Nothing is going to jeopardize" the ceasefire, Trump said. "You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave."

Palestinians fear truce could collapse

Some displaced Palestinians feared the truce was falling apart. Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three children, recalled the sounds of explosions throughout the night, a reminder of a war that has killed tens of thousands.

"It was one of the worst nights since the ceasefire was signed. The sounds of explosions and planes made us feel as if war had started again," Zayda, who lives in tents in western Gaza City with his 25-member family, told Reuters via a chat app.

An Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces who were stationed within the so-called "yellow line", the deployment line agreed upon in the ceasefire.

The agreement went into effect on Oct. 10, halting two years of tumult in the region triggered by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel launched an offensive immediately after the attack, which has since killed an estimated 68,000 civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Hamas denied responsibility for the attack on Israeli forces in Rafah, in southern Gaza, and said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal.

Under the accord, Hamas released all living hostages in return for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees, while Israel pulled back its troops and halted its offensive.

Dispute over human remains

Hamas also agreed to hand over the remains of all dead hostages yet to be recovered, but has said that it will take time to locate and retrieve all of the bodies.

Israel says Hamas, considered a terrorist entity by several countries including Canada, can access the remains of most of the hostages.

The issue has become one of the main sticking points in the ceasefire, which Trump says he is watching closely.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said human remains handed over on Monday night belonged to an Israeli killed during Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023 attack, whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in the early weeks of fighting.

The Israeli military said that Hamas had planted the remains at an excavation site before calling in a Red Cross team and pretending it had found a missing hostage, to create a "false impression of efforts to locate bodies."

A 14-minute video published by the military showed three men placing a white bag at an excavation site and then covering it with earth and rocks.

The Red Cross said its team was unaware that the remains had been planted at the site before their arrival.

"It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones," the Red Cross said in a statement.

Reuters could not verify Israel's account of what the video showed. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.