Explained: Why Israel Bombed Gaza Again Despite A Ceasefire Deal

Last Updated:October 29, 2025, 11:16 IST

Just weeks into a US-brokered truce, Israeli airstrikes have resumed in Gaza. With both sides trading accusations and bodies still unrecovered, is the truce falling apart?

A Palestinian boy carrying belongings walks past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City (Photo: AFP)

The Israeli military launched a fresh wave of airstrikes across northern and southern Gaza, killing at least 30 people, including children, AFP quoted Gaza’s civil defence agency as saying on Wednesday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he had “directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip" after consultations with security officials on Tuesday evening.

This escalation came nearly two weeks into a fragile ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States. The ceasefire, approved by Israel on October 9, aimed to pause a two-year war that began after the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and its allies on Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken. Since then, at least 68,527 Palestinians have died and over 170,000 have been injured in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

The ceasefire terms included the release of Israeli hostages, both living and deceased, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops. As of this week, only 15 of the 28 bodies of deceased hostages had been returned, CNN reported. Israel now claims that not only has Hamas delayed the process, but it has also violated the deal’s terms in multiple ways, prompting the new military action.

What Did Israel Say About Hamas’s Ceasefire Violations?

Israel accused Hamas of:

An Israeli military official told CNN that Israeli troops stationed east of the so-called “yellow line", the dividing line between Israeli-occupied Gaza and the rest of the territory, came under RPG and sniper fire in Rafah, southern Gaza. The same source also claimed that Hamas was “pretending not to know" the location of hostage remains.

The IDF released a drone video showing men burying and later unearthing a shrouded body in Gaza City, allegedly to stage its discovery in front of Red Cross personnel. The footage was also referenced by AP, which geolocated the site but could not verify the date or the contents of the white body bag.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian described the footage as a “disgraceful deception" and claimed that the remains were those of Ofir Tzarfati, a hostage kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and previously recovered by Israeli forces in November 2023. His family said this was the third time they had been asked to reopen and rebury his grave.

In Netanyahu’s words, the return of these body parts constituted a “clear violation" of the ceasefire agreement, which required Hamas to return all remaining hostages as soon as possible.

What Did Hamas Say In Response?

Hamas has denied all the accusations and condemned Israel’s actions as violations of the truce. In a statement on Telegram, the group said the continuing bombardment “represents a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement signed in Sharm el-Sheikh under the auspices of US President Trump."

A political bureau member of Hamas, Suhail al-Hindi, told Al Jazeera, “We have made every effort possible to recover the bodies, and the occupation bears full responsibility for any delay in recovering the remaining bodies." He also added, “Israel must realise that we are committed to the agreement, and they must stop falsely accusing us of violating it."

Hamas further denied any involvement in the reported gunfire exchange in Rafah.

Shortly after Netanyahu’s order for new strikes, Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, announced that it would postpone the handover of a hostage’s body in response to Israel’s “violations." The militant group warned that continued escalation “will hinder search, digging, and retrieval operations of the bodies, which will lead to a delay in recovering the bodies of the dead captives," according to CNN.

What Has The US Said About The Escalation?

US President Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Hamas: honour the fragile Gaza ceasefire or face the consequences. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Israel has the full right to respond to any violations and added that if Hamas does not “behave", it will be “eradicated".

Stressing that Israel was justified in taking military action if Hamas breaks its commitments under the ceasefire deal, Trump clarified that the US will not be deploying troops to intervene but emphasised that it backed Israel and that allied countries would act swiftly.

The US President said Hamas must “behave" and if “they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated", making it clear that the militant group has lost major outside support.

“They killed an Israeli soldier. So the Israelis hit back. And they should hit back," Trump told reporters.

CNN quoted a US official saying that Israel had notified Washington ahead of the strikes. Another Israeli source said that any future response would also be coordinated with the US.

However, US Vice-President JD Vance attempted to downplay the violence, stating that the ceasefire “remains in place" and referring to the attacks as “little skirmishes here and there."

The Red Cross, which had been involved in facilitating the return of bodies, also issued a statement reacting to the staging allegations. It said: “It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones."

Is The Ceasefire Still Holding?

Despite mounting violations, officials on all sides have maintained that the ceasefire remains in place — at least formally. Tuesday’s flare-up marked the third such escalation since the ceasefire began on October 10.

A previous Israeli strike on October 19 killed over 40 Palestinians after Hamas allegedly killed two Israeli soldiers. Over the weekend, another airstrike wounded several people in what Israel described as a pre-emptive attack on Islamic Jihad operatives.

The situation has now reached a critical point. Diplomatic sources said that mediators from Egypt and Qatar were in contact with both Israel and Hamas to salvage the truce. One Arab official involved in the negotiations told AP: “Both sides violated the agreement, but there was no significant breach." The violations cited included delays in body returns, slow humanitarian aid delivery, and minor skirmishes on the separation line.

Meanwhile, Israel is reportedly considering expanding its buffer zone inside Gaza, reoccupying the Netzarim corridor, or restricting aid, though the latter is opposed by the US.

The slow pace of recovering hostage remains is emerging as a major obstacle in moving forward with the next phases of the ceasefire, which include discussions over Hamas disarmament, deployment of an international security force, and future governance of Gaza. Hamas has said that the scale of destruction across the territory is making it difficult to locate bodies, while Israel continues to accuse the group of intentional delays.

For now, both sides insist they remain committed to the ceasefire, even as the ground reality tells a more unstable story.

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