A number of Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded on Tuesday in an attack by Palestinian terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said, in what appeared to be the first serious violation of the temporary pause in fighting, which started Friday.
According to the IDF, three explosive devices were detonated near forces at two separate locations in the northern Gaza Strip “in violation of the truce agreements” on Monday.
The army said that in one of the incidents, gunfire was also directed at troops, who returned fire.“In both cases, the IDF forces were within the agreed-upon ceasefire lines,” the military said.
Hamas claimed that Israel violated the truce first. The spokesman for the military wing of Hamas said its fighters were responding to a “clear violation” by the IDF in the northern Gaza Strip, which resulted in a clash, offering no further details.
Hamas said it is “committed to the truce as long as the enemy adheres to it,” and called on the mediators — Qatar, Egypt, and the US — “to pressure the occupation to adhere to all the terms of the truce on the ground and in the air.”
Speaking in northern Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned that the military was ready “today” to potentially resume fighting in the Gaza Strip and “preparing to continue fighting to dismantle Hamas.”
“It will take time, these are complex goals, but they are more than justified,” Halevi said of Israel’s declared aim to destroy the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza following the October 7 shock assault in southern Israel, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded communities near the Palestinian enclave, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians in their homes and at a music festival, and taking some 240 hostages.
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