Less than three weeks after a tenuous Gaza ceasefire took hold, the truce now hangs by a thread. Israel launched a series of deadly overnight airstrikes on Gaza following what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called “a grave breach” of the ceasefire terms by Hamas.
Netanyahu, in a statement from his office late Monday, directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to carry out what he termed “powerful and precise retaliatory operations” after a coffin handed over by Hamas was found not to contain the body of an additional hostage, but rather remains of Ofir Tzarfati — an Israeli soldier whose body had already been recovered by Israeli forces in late 2023.
Within hours of Netanyahu’s order, explosions lit up the night sky over Gaza City. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defence agency, at least nine people were killed, including four women, three men, and two children. Emergency workers were later seen carrying bodies wrapped in blue blankets from the rubble of flattened homes.
Israel’s military has not commented on the reported civilian deaths but confirmed it “targeted Hamas military infrastructure” in what it described as a “measured response” to ceasefire violations.
Hamas, however, accused Israel of “sabotaging” the fragile truce and announced it would delay a planned handover of another deceased hostage, citing “ongoing violations by the enemy.”
The latest flare-up threatens to unravel a ceasefire painstakingly brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar earlier this month. The deal, which was meant to halt months of fighting and facilitate the exchange of hostages and prisoners, has come under increasing strain amid mutual recriminations.
Washington has called for calm. U.S. Vice President JD Vance maintained that the ceasefire “is still holding,” but conceded its fragility, saying, “That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.”
Still, the renewed violence has raised fears of a full-scale resumption of hostilities. Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately stalling the return of the remaining deceased hostages, while Hamas insists that Israel continues to carry out “provocations” through surveillance flights and limited artillery fire along the Gaza perimeter.
International monitors warn that the situation could spiral if both sides continue testing the limits of the truce. “Every airstrike and every retaliation brings us closer to total breakdown,” said one senior diplomat involved in the mediation effort.
For the residents of Gaza, it is a grim déjà vu. Less than a month after daring to hope for quiet, the sound of bombs has returned — and so has the fear that the ceasefire, once again, may have been just another illusion.
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