Eurasia Press & News
The IDF’s strikes came after two Israeli soldiers were killed in a reported incident with Hamas terrorists in the southern city of Rafah.
The IDF announced that it will begin re-enforcing the Gaza ceasefire on Sunday night after it carried out “a series of strikes” against Hamas targets in southern Gaza in response to the terror group violating the ceasefire agreement on Sunday.
Earlier, the military condemned Hamas’s “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” which occurred when the terror group fired an anti-tank missile and opened fire on Israeli soldiers. The IDF later confirmed that two soldiers were killed in the attacks, and another was seriously wounded.
Previously, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed Israel’s armed forces to respond with force against Gazan terror targets during a consultation with Defense Minister Israel Katz and the heads of Israel’s security establishment.
As a result of Israeli air strikes in Gaza, 11 people were killed and others were wounded, Hamas’s armed wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, later claimed.
The Emirati news outlet Erem News reported first that among those was Yahya al-Mabhouh, a field commander in the Qassam Brigades. The Qassam Brigades later confirmed the terrorist’s death.
Hamas’s military wing also confirmed the deaths of Muhammad Abu Rafi’, Hussein al-Sawalha, A’id Sabri Salman, and Zakaria Abu Habl, all of whom were among its members.
An Israeli military official briefing reporters subsequently warned of additional strikes against Hamas in response to the breach of the ceasefire agreement.
At least three incidents of Hamas ceasefire violations
The official added there were at least three incidents on Sunday in which Hamas fired towards Israeli troops behind the “yellow line,” where Israeli forces had pulled back under the ceasefire agreement.
A later IDF statement announced that in one incident, Israel struck terrorists after troops had identified them approaching an IDF position behind Gaza’s yellow line in the Beit Lahia area.
The military published footage of the incident and noted that its actions were in line with the ceasefire agreement as “the terrorists were struck after crossing the yellow line.”
In a later update, the IDF stated that it had struck multiple Hamas targets in Gaza, including weapons storage, firing posts, and other terrorist infrastructure.
The military added that it had dismantled six kilometers of Hamas’s underground terror tunnels using 120 munitions.
In the wake of the start of the Israeli military action, Axios reported on Sunday that American officials were working to hold the ceasefire together.
The outlet reported that Israel had notified the US of its strikes in advance and that US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had coordinated with Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The Americans urged Israel to “respond proportionately but show restraint,” a US official told Axios, adding that “Nobody wants to go back to full-scale war. The Israelis want to show Hamas there are consequences, without ruining the peace agreement.”
