The Israeli military has announced that the Gaza truce is back in effect, following a night of airstrikes that challenged the fragile ceasefire deal and left a toll of 104 dead in the Palestinian enclave.
The overnight bombardment, which Gaza health officials report included a significant number of children and women among the fatalities, represents one of the most serious challenges to the U.S.-brokered deal since its inception.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the Gaza truce was threatened after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “powerful strikes” in response to alleged violations by Hamas.
Netanyahu accused Hamas of allegedly violating the ceasefire by handing over body parts this week that Israel said were partial remains of a hostage recovered earlier in the war.
Israeli officials also accused Hamas of staging the discovery of some of the remains on Monday, sharing a 14-minute, edited video from a military drone in Gaza.
Following Netanyahu’s directive, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) stated their operations targeted dozens of “terror targets and terrorists” following these breaches.
However, the scale of the casualties, with Gaza’s health ministry reporting at least 46 children and 20 women among the 104 dead, has drawn immediate and widespread international condemnation.
Also, the Israel Defense Forces said in a Wednesday statement that it had resumed adherence to the ceasefire in Gaza “following a series of significant strikes in which dozens of terror targets and terrorists were attacked.”
“The IDF will continue to enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation,” the statement said.
However, Hamas denied any involvement in the deadly shooting and, in turn, accused Israel of “a blatant violation of the ceasefire deal.” It also said it would delay handing over the body of another hostage to Israel because of the strikes.
Reacting to the development on the Gaza truce, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced “killings, due to Israeli air strikes, of civilians in Gaza yesterday, including many children”, his spokesperson says.
“He condemns all actions that undermine the ceasefire and endanger civilian lives,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarters in New York City.
Guterres also stressed that commitments to uphold the ceasefire must be upheld, and any acts that harm civilians or obstruct humanitarian aid “must be avoided”, Dujarric said
“Reports that over 100 Palestinians were killed overnight in a wave of Israeli air strikes – mainly on residential buildings, IDP tents and schools across the Gaza Strip following the death of an Israeli soldier – are appalling,” he said in a statement.
“The laws of war are very clear on the paramount importance of protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
“It is distressing that these killings occurred just as the long-suffering population of Gaza started to feel there was hope that the unrelenting barrage of violence may be at an end,” he said.
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump, on a trip to Asia, defended the strikes, saying Israel was justified in carrying them out after Hamas killed the Israeli soldier, who also held U.S. citizenship.
Trump said Israel “should hit back” when its troops come under attack. But he said he’s still confident the ceasefire would withstand the escalation in violence because “Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace. And they have to behave.”
If not, they will be “terminated,” Trump added.
