Since last week, his health is getting worse by the minute. This Sunday morning, the Israeli Air Force carried out bombings against the Hamas militia in Rafah, in the south of the enclave. The Israeli army has stated in a statement that Palestinian fighters had opened fire with “anti-tank missiles” against Israeli troops in the area, and has assured that the offensive is a response to what it has described as a “flagrant” violation of the ceasefire. Subsequently, Israel has also bombed Jabalia, in the north of the enclave, and Deir el Balah, in the center.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a note in which he assures that he has ordered a “strong response” against “terrorist targets.” Netanyahu’s announcement comes after a meeting that the Israeli head of government held with Defense Minister Israel Katz and with some army leaders to evaluate the situation and decide how to respond, according to Israeli television Channel 12.
The toll of deaths and injuries from the attack in Rafah is unknown at the moment. A statement from the Gaza Ministry of Health early in the afternoon states that eight Gazans have died during the last 24 hours, but does not detail which of those deaths are related to the latest Israeli bombings.
of the detonation of explosives in Rafah that have injured several Israeli soldiers, after which the Israeli army has responded with at least three different attacks, . Simultaneously, the Israeli army has also launched an attack in Jabalia, where the Palestinian news agency WAFA reports two deaths, without specifying whether they are civilians or militants, and several injuries. The attack in Deir el Balah has caused three fatalities, according to the Israeli press.
These events represent an escalation of war that shakes the precarious truce that began on October 11. From that moment until this Saturday, Israel had killed around thirty Gazans in incidents mainly related to the approach towards the yellow line – for now, imaginary, although Israel has announced that it will erect fences -, which determines the territory of the Strip to which Israeli troops retreated after the peace agreement sealed in Egypt.
Israel’s far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has demanded that the Israeli army resume “large-scale fighting” in Gaza. “The false belief that Hamas will comply with the ceasefire agreement is dangerous for our security,” he said in a statement.
Hamas has come forward to ensure that it is committed to the truce. This has been highlighted by Izzat al Risheq, a member of the organization, in a statement in which he makes no mention of the incidents in Rafah and in which he accuses Israel of seeking “pretexts for its crimes” and of “trying to evade” the pressure of the mediators. On Saturday, Hamas put the number of alleged Israeli violations of the ceasefire at 47.
Stuck in the first phase
The truth is that both parties accuse the other of breaking the truce. The Israeli authorities spread , something that the Palestinian movement denies, arguing that the devastation in the enclave makes the search for the remains difficult.
This Sunday, Israel confirmed the identity of two more hostages – the Israeli, Ronen Engel, and the Thai Sonthaya Oakkharasri – whose bodies were returned by Hamas on Saturday night. The militia has yet to hand over 16 of the 28 hostages who have died since October 2023.
In a discursive 180-degree turn, the White House issued a statement on Saturday night denouncing the existence of “credible information” indicating “an imminent violation of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas against the people of Gaza.” The text refers to the repression that Hamas has carried out since the beginning of the truce against other armed clans in the Strip, which it accuses of collaborating with Israel, which has included the execution or murder of at least 30 people, according to the Israeli media. The Jerusalem Post.
The statement warned that “if Hamas proceeds with this attack,” the United States will take measures “to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire.” On Tuesday, in an opposite message, US President Donald Trump stated that “the executions of some members” of some gangs did not matter much to him.
Hamas rejected the US accusations this Sunday and assured that “what Washington describes as civilians” are actually “militias financed by Israel” with the mission of spreading chaos in the enclave. The portal Axios has reported that the White House plans to send a delegation led by Vice President JD Vance to Israel on Monday or Tuesday to support the implementation of the truce and advance it towards its second phase. Washington’s special envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kuhsner, will be part of the delegation.
Pressure on Netanyahu
The meeting that Netanyahu held this Sunday to decide on the bombings on the Strip took place while different leaders of the Israeli opposition presented a document that demands that the end of the war in Gaza means ending the “excuses” for the Government of Israel to face justice for the failure in the security strategy during the massive Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
The statement, presented to the president of Parliament, calls for the convening of what is known in Israel as “the debate of 40 signatures”, a plenary session that the opposition can convene once a month and that the prime minister is legally obliged to attend. In this case, the opposition calls for a debate to establish a state commission of inquiry to hold accountable the country’s leaders. “With the end of the war, there are no more excuses,” the text says. “It is imperative to establish a commission to examine the rulings [de las autoridades] and restore the confidence of the population [hacia la clase política]”.
Support for the creation of said commission is majority in Israel. A survey carried out at the end of September by a center associated with the Israel Institute of Democracy reflected that 74% of the population approves of the measure. The same poll indicated that 64% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu should resign in addition to facing justice.
