Israel says the ceasefire is back after a Gaza strike killed at least 70 people

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it had resumed enforcing the Gaza Recongfire agreement after a series of strikes across the border it said were in response to Hamas violations.

Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday, killing scores of people, after an attack by Palestinian militants killed one soldier, the latest challenge to an already fragile conflict.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it will continue to support the ceasefire agreement and will respond strongly to “any violation.”

US President Donald Trump said that ending the US-backed blockade was not at risk even as Israeli planes attacked Gaza, and Israel and Hamas traded goods in a temporary violation.

Gaza health authorities said the Israeli strikes killed at least 70 people, including in the houses attacked in the Bureij refugee camp in the middle of the Gaza Strip, and five in a car in Khan Younis.

“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters of the naval force.

“No one knows what happened to the Israeli soldier, but they say it was sniper fire,” Trump added. “And it’s been recast for that, and I think they have a right to do that.”

The Israeli army confirmed the death of a soldier on Wednesday, saying that Hamas violated the ceasefire by carrying out attacks on Israeli forces stationed inside the so-called “Yellow Line,” the last line agreed.

The agreement went into effect on Oct. 10, to end two years of unrest in the region caused by the deadly attack led by Hamas on Oct 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 and took 1,200 hostages and saw 251 hostages. Israel was immediately outraged after the attack, which killed an estimated 68,000 civilians, according to the Gaza Health Service.

Hamas denied responsibility for the attack by Israeli forces in Rafah, south of Gaza, and said in a statement that it remains committed to ending the conflict.

Under the agreement, Hamas released all living hostages, including 2,000 prisoners of war and prisoners of war, and Israel withdrew its forces and stopped its torture.

Arguing about human corpses

Hamas also agreed to donate the remains of all the dead hostages for now to be found, but says it will take time to find and return all the bodies.

Israel says that Hamas, which has looked into the terrorist business of many countries, including Canada, has access to many of the remains of the hostages.

The issue has become one of the main sticking points in the waiver regime, which Trump says he is watching closely.

The Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said that people in Israel were killed on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli military said that Hamas planted the remains in the excavation site before driving to the Red Cross team and pretending to have found the missing seam, to create a “false impression of efforts to find the bodies.”

A 14-minute video released by the military shows three men placing a white bag at the excavation site and covering it with soil and rocks.

The Red Cross said its team did not know the remains had been planted in the area before their arrival.

“It is unacceptable that it was laughed at to renew the deception, when so much depends on this agreement to be supported and when many families are still waiting for their loved ones to understand,” Red Red said in a statement.

Reuters could not confirm Israel’s account of what the video showed. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.