The Israeli military said Wednesday that it will abide by the ceasefire 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 after, it said, 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 but would respond firmly to “any violation.”
In a separate statement, the military said it had targeted dozens of Hamas militants across the enclave, as well as weapons depots and tunnels belonging to the group. It named five militants, including a Hamas commander, who it said took part in an attack on an Israeli kibbutz during the Oct. 7, 2023, assault that triggered the war.
The Gaza Health Ministry said that 46 children and 20 women were among the 104 people killed in Israeli airstrikes since Tuesday. Reuters and CBC News couldn’t immediately verify the numbers, but Reuters video showed several bodies of women and children inside a hospital during funeral processions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered ‘powerful attacks’ on Gaza, the biggest test of the latest ceasefire with Hamas.
Hamada Subaih, 28, said he and his family were taking shelter in a school in northern Gaza and that he left 10 minutes before an airstrike killed his father.
“What’s the point after this? Nothing is worth it,” Subaih told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife, outside of Al-Shifa Hospital.
“The person I lost was my only support, I was with him wherever he went … He died in my arms,” Subaih said as he wept.
“[The war] was over and we thanked God it was over.”
Despite the bombardments, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S.-backed ceasefire was not at risk.
“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters yesterday aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.”
“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 attacking Israeli forces stationed within the so-called “yellow line”, the demarcation line agreed upon in the ceasefire.
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.
The ceasefire went into effect on Oct. 10, halting two years of tumult in the region triggered by the Oct. 7th attacks, 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.
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 the Oct. 7th 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.
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