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JERUSALEM: The Israeli military launched an attack on Gaza on Sunday, Israeli media reported, dimming hopes that a week-old US-mediated ceasefire would lead to lasting peace in the enclave as Israel traded blame with Palestinian group Hamas.
An Israeli military official said on Sunday that Hamas had carried out multiple attacks against Israeli forces inside Gaza, including a rocket-propelled grenade attack and a sniper attack against Israeli soldiers."Both of the incidents happened in an Israeli-controlled area... This is a bold violation of the ceasefire," the official said.
Senior Hamas official Izzat Al Risheq said on Sunday that the group remained committed to the ceasefire, which he accused Israel of repeatedly violating.
Neither Al Risheq nor the Israeli military official made any mention of the reported Israeli strikes in Gaza.
The government media office in Gaza said on Saturday that Israel had committed 47 violations after the ceasefire deal, leaving 38 dead and 143 wounded.
The impact of the Israeli strikes on Sunday, the most serious test since an already fragile ceasefire took effect on Oct 11, was not immediately clear. The Israeli government and Hamas have been accusing each other of violations of the ceasefire for days, with Israel saying the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will remain closed until further notice.
Rafah has largely been shut since May 2024. The ceasefire deal also includes the ramping up of aid into the enclave, where hundreds of thousands of people were determined in August to be affected by famine, according to the IPC global hunger monitor.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a dispute over the return of the bodies of deceased hostages. Israel demanded that Hamas fulfil its obligations in turning over the remaining bodies of all 28 hostages.
Hamas has returned all 20 live hostages and 12 of the deceased but said the process needs effort and special equipment to recover corpses buried under rubble.
Formidable obstacles to Trump's plan to end the war still remain. Key questions of Hamas disarming, the governance of Gaza, the make-up of an international"stabilisation force", and moves towards the creation of a Palestinian state have yet to be resolved.
