A day after Hamas’s attempted deception with the “release” of a hostage’s body, reports now indicate another violation of the ceasefire agreement, as Hamas operatives opened fire using anti-tank and sniper rifles on IDF forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Subsequent reports indicate exchanges of fire between the IDF and the terrorists.
The IDF censor has not released further information yet.
In an initial response, the IDF carried out an artillery strike in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Yossi Yehoshua, a senior security source, commented that Hamas’s ceasefire violations go beyond yesterday’s staged deception involving the burial and “discovery” of a hostage’s body. “The terror group also opened fire on an IDF bulldozer yesterday, no casualties were reported, and the IDF refrained from responding. Now, Hamas has escalated further with a more serious attack in Rafah, one that is expected to compel an Israeli military response,” he said.
As in previous incidents, Israeli officials are currently holding consultations with their American counterparts to determine the nature and scope of that response.
The current attack comes hours after the previous breach of the ceasefire was exposed. Yesterday, Hamas staged the release of a body claimed to be that of a fallen hostage. In reality, they attempted to return remains of the late hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body had been recovered two years ago during a military operation. Earlier footage shows Hamas relocating the body and allowing the Red Cross to “discover” it.
Several hours later, Arab media reported that Hamas operatives in Gaza located another hostage body they had been searching for nearly two weeks underground. According to reports, the newly discovered body was found in the Khan Yunis area in the south-central Gaza Strip. Hamas later announced it plans to release another fallen hostage’s body tonight at 20:00.
According to Belaaz, an urgent discussion was led PM Netanyahu following Hamas’ violation of not returning remaining hostage bodies. The IDF presented a package of response steps, including resuming strikes in Gaza, but the discussion ended without decisions at this stage; PM Netanyahu noted need for coordination and approval from Trump on future steps.
