ALBAWABA- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday night ordered what he called “powerful and precise” airstrikes across Gaza, shattering a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire amid renewed tensions with Hamas.
The strikes, concentrated in Rafah and northern Gaza, came hours after Israel accused Hamas of violating the truce by returning the misidentified remains of an Israeli captive.
The Israeli army said it hit more than 50 “targets,” including command centers and underground tunnels. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported at least 18 people killed, among them two civilians in a Rafah residential area, and several dozen injured. Officials condemned the attacks as “a deliberate breach of the truce,” warning of a slide back into full-scale war.
The latest bombardment marks the second major flare-up since the ceasefire began on October 10, following a two-year-long conflict that left more than 68,000 Palestinians dead and displaced nearly 2 million.
The truce, intended to last 45 days, calls for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from Gaza corridors, the release of Palestinian detainees, and unrestricted humanitarian aid.
But mistrust runs deep as Hamas labeled the body-return error “a technical mistake,” while Netanyahu called it a “provocation that won’t go unanswered.”
Speaking to the Knesset, Netanyahu vowed to “defend Israel’s honor and the ceasefire’s credibility,” despite growing domestic calls from far-right allies to resume a full offensive.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israel has committed 125 violations since the truce began, including sniper fire and artillery shelling that killed at least 65 civilians. Israel, in turn, accused Hamas of 40 violations, including the Rafah ambush on October 19 that killed two Israeli soldiers.
U.S. officials urged restraint, warning that continued hostilities could collapse the peace framework entirely. As night fell, residents of Rafah sheltered amid ruins, another ceasefire turning into a promise undone by Israeli violence.
