Israel Defense Forces launched a strong response to an earlier Hamas attack that violated the ceasefire on Sunday, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others.
On Sunday evening, the IDF announced that Major Yaniv Kula (26) and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz (21) was both killed in the attack. They both served in the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion and hailed from the city of Modi’in.
According to the investigation, which took place on Sunday morning in the city of Rafah, several terrorists emerged from a tunnel to fire RPGs at an excavator, killing two.
At the same time, one or more snipers opened fire on another excavator, where two soldiers were wounded. Shortly after, another soldier was hit by sniper fire and wounded.
The Rafah area remains under IDF control, and troops were engaged in clearing Hamas infrastructure when the attack occurred. According to the military, the terrorists did not attempt to abduct any soldiers during the incident.
The attack, which further jeopardized the continuation of the ceasefire agreement, sparked outrage and prompted calls for a strong response across Israel’s political spectrum.
Several hours later, the IDF began a large wave of airstrikes against “dozens of Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.”
“The targets struck included weapons storage facilities, infrastructure used for terrorist activity, firing posts, terrorist cells, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites,” the IDF stated, adding that it also “struck and dismantled six kilometers of underground terrorist infrastructure, using over 120 munitions.”
“The Hamas terrorist organization blatantly violated the ceasefire agreement this morning. The IDF will continue to respond firmly and will operate to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel.”
Despite the escalation, a senior security official told Channel 12 News that “Israel does not want to bring about the collapse of the ceasefire. There is no need to ‘save’ the ceasefire. There is no concern about the agreement. There is a simple equation of violation and response, and it will continue as long as Hamas continues to violate the agreement.”
The source also warned of future flare-ups, saying, “The area between the yellow line and the Philadelphi Corridor is a high-risk zone. It is supposedly under Israeli control, but beneath the surface and at tunnel entrances that still exist, Hamas operatives are hiding and trying to harass the forces under the cover of the ceasefire, even without explicit command instructions.”
In response to the attack, Israel decided to keep the border crossings to the Gaza Strip closed on Sunday, cutting off the entry of humanitarian aid.
“Due to the massive bombings and dozens of fatalities on the Hamas side, Israel halted the movement of trucks today. The movement will resume once the bombings conclude. The Rafah crossing will only reopen once we see Hamas continuing the return of hostages and fallen soldiers at a reasonable pace,” a political source said during a briefing.
However, local media reported that Israel assured the Trump administration it would reopen the crossings on Monday, following U.S. pressure to avoid jeopardizing the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Hamas leaders claim the attack in Rafah took place without their knowledge.
The head of Hamas’ information office, Ismail Al-Thawabta, reiterated that the terror group is “fully committed to every detail of the ceasefire agreement” and that “what happened does not constitute a violation.”
In a statement on the Saudi Al-Hadath news channel, Hamas also argued that the ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing was a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
“We are committed to all clauses of the ceasefire agreement. We have no connection to the incidents that occurred in Rafah and no knowledge of them,” Hamas stated.
On Sunday evening, Israel’s Kan News reported that Qatar, Egypt and Turkey were dissatisfied with Hamas’ conduct and were working furiously to stabilize the ceasefire.
An Arab diplomat from one of the mediating countries said that Hamas has insisted that the attack wasn’t aimed at the IDF troops but at rival clans in the area.
This article was originally published by All Israel News.
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