Tel Aviv – Testing weak limits quit in its fifth day, the Israeli military said on Thursday that forces had opened fire in the southern Gaza Strip on masked, armed people who were a threat to safety. The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement, reported incidents east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and in the Kerem Shalom border crossing area, through which aid trucks have been delivering more food, water and medical supplies since the ceasefire took effect. .
The IDF said it had killed one terrorist with the Islamic Jihad group and that although Israel “remained determined to fully uphold the terms of the (ceasefire) agreement to return the enemies ,” he was also “prepared for any situation and will continue. to take all necessary actions to prevent an immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
There was no immediate response to the incident from Hamas rulers in Gaza.
A few hours before the IDF confirmed the operation in southern Gaza, which is newly sworn in by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called and told the Israeli leader that “maintaining the steady support of the United States to Israel is a top priority for President Trump,” according to his read out the call.
Rubio made a series of calls to foreign ministers around the world, but Netanyahu was the first head of state he spoke to, according to readings provided by the State Department. The two men also discussed freeing the 94 Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, seven of whom are Israeli-Americans, and dealing with threats from Iran, although the State Department did not elaborate. over.
Gaza's Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, has reported no new deaths since the ceasefire, but the official toll has risen as rescue and recovery teams, and ordinary citizens, finding more bodies and, in some cases, piles of bones, in the rubble of the devastated Palestinian enclave.
OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP/Getty
The ministry said as of Thursday that its tally showed that more than 47,200 people had been killed during the war sparked by the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which saw the militants of the killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping another 251. In Gaza, the remains of more than 160 people have been recovered since the ceasefire began on Sunday, the ministry said.
Thousands more bodies are still believed to be under collapsed buildings in the enclave, which was home to around 2.3 million people before the war. The press office of the Hamas-run Gaza administration said on Thursday that around 14,000 people are still missing.
Faster recovery efforts, along with the distribution of aid, have been hampered by the lack of heavy equipment in the strip and its degraded infrastructure, according to rescue workers and aid agencies.
On Wednesday, the UN said 808 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including food, fuel and medical supplies, had entered the strip since the ceasefire came into effect. result But the ceasefire and hostilities resolution agreement negotiated by the US, Qatar and Egypt called for 600 trucks to enter the territory
Hussam Al-Masri / REUTERS
Hamas has said it will release four more hostages – Israeli women – on Saturday. Saw the first exchange on Sunday three prisoners freed in exchange for approximately 90 Palestinian prisoners, who were released from an Israeli prison in the West Bank. Israel is expected to release 200 more Palestinian detainees in the next exchange this weekend.
At the same time, a “massive” military attack. which was launched by the IDF in the West Bank earlier this week continued overnight, focusing in and around the Jenin refugee camp in the northern Palestinian territory.
The IDF says it has killed two men in Operation “Iron Wall” linked to the Hamas-linked Islamic Jihad group, claiming the men killed three Israelis in a bus attack two weeks ago on the West Bank.
Raneen Sawafta/REUTERS
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, which is not controlled by Hamas like Gaza, said on Wednesday that 10 Palestinians were killed amid the new operation of the IDF.
“Iron Wall” has been a major show of force by the IDF in Jenin, an area of the West Bank that Israel has long considered a stronghold of Iranian-backed militant groups. Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect, the IDF has redirected its focus – and firepower – to the West Bank.
One of President Trump's first moves as he begins his second term this week was to lift Biden-era sanctions on settlers Israel was considered a security threat to the West Bank.
Domestically, for Prime Minister Netanyahu, the West Bank offensive may be aimed in part at settling at least part of his support base – including far-right members of his own cabinet – who are outraged by the cease-fire agreement with Hamas.
Israel's former Minister of National Security, the right-wing nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, resigned in protest at the deal, saying it involved terror.
If the country's Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right cabinet member, were to resign, Netanyahu's weak coalition government would collapse. Early national elections would then have to be called in the country, potentially ending Netanyahu's own long hold on political power.
