Israel says it is reinstating the truce after leaving a hundred dead in Gaza

BarcelonaThe bombings that Benjamin Netanyahu ordered to be launched throughout the Gaza Strip this Tuesday The attacks have left at least 100 Palestinians dead, including 24 children, according to counts from hospitals in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Civil Defense. The Israeli prime minister ordered the Israeli army to carry out "forceful" attacks on the enclave immediately due to alleged ceasefire violations by Hamas. The bombings continued into the early hours of the morning until around 9:00 a.m., when the Israeli army announced that "after a series of attacks in which dozens of terrorist targets were hit," it was reinstating the ceasefire in Gaza. Israel accuses the Islamist group of handing over remains that did not match any of the 13 Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza. This accusation is compounded by the fact that Hamas killed an Israeli soldier in an exchange of fire allegedly initiated by Hamas militants, using snipers and artillery, in the southern Gaza Strip, near Rafah. The Islamist militia denies that these attacks were carried out by its members.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that "Hamas will pay a heavy price for attacking Israeli Defense Forces soldiers in Gaza" and for "violating the agreement for the repatriation of deceased hostages." Hamas, meanwhile, insisted on upholding the agreement. "Israel must understand that we are committed to the agreement and must stop falsely accusing us of violating it," said Suhail al-Hindi, one of Hamas's leaders, on Al Jazeera. However, following Netanyahu's announcement, the organization backtracked on the handover of the remains of another hostage, which it had announced for Tuesday night.

However, Donald Trump insists that the truce he himself brokered remains in effect. "As I understand it, [Hamas militants] killed an Israeli soldier," the US president said from Air Force One while traveling from Japan to South Korea. "So the Israelis retaliated, and they should continue to retaliate. When something like this happens, they must retaliate." For the president, "nothing will jeopardize" the ceasefire, since "Hamas is a very small part of the peace in the Middle East, and it should be kept in check."

While the question remains whether Netanyahu sought permission from the White House to carry out the wave of bombings, the episode is reminiscent of the incidents of October 19, when Gaza was subjected to a one-day lightning offensive by Israel. According to the White House version, that attack was provoked by Hamas members acting independently who surprised the Israeli army and caused the deaths of two soldiers. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, that operation left more than 30 dead in the enclave after Israel dropped some 153 tons of bombs. Netanyahu has mentioned this in almost all his public appearances since then, as a way of emphasizing the cost of breaking the truce in place in the enclave since October 10.