TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel on Sunday struck targets in the southern Gaza Strip after it said its troops came under fire from Hamas militants, in the first major test of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire meant to halt more than two years of war.
Members of the Palestinian group used an RPG and Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery, the military said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations with Israel’s security heads and directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations, but did not threaten to return to war.
Hamas said that it was not connected to any clashes in Rafah in southern Gaza.
The strikes came as Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight, and the Palestinian group said talks to launch the second phase of ceasefire negotiations have begun.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.
Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and their bodies were taken to Gaza. Engel’s wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a ceasefire in November 2023.
Meanwhile, Israel threatened to keep the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed “until further notice.” The statement by Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would depend on how Hamas fulfills its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages.
In the past week, Hamas has handed over the remains of 13 bodies, 12 of which have been identified as hostages. Israel said one of the bodies released did not belong to a hostage.
Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. The ministry has posted photos of dozens of bodies on its website to help families and relatives attempting to locate their loved ones, but the bodies were decomposed, blackened and some were missing limbs and teeth. Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.
After Israel and Hamas exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the handover of the remains of deceased hostages and prisoners remains a major issue in the first stage of the ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. A major scale-up of aid, including the opening of the Rafah border crossing, for humanitarian aid and people entering or leaving Gaza, is the other central issue.
The next stages of the ceasefire will focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory.
Second phase
The Israeli military said on Sunday that militants shot at troops in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, in the Israeli-controlled areas, according to the agreed-upon ceasefire lines. No injuries were reported. A senior Hamas official denied that Hamas was involved. Hamas and Israel have each accused each other of violating the fragile ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Hamas says that talks with mediators to start the second phase of the ceasefire have begun.
Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesman, said in a statement late Saturday that the second phase of negotiations “requires national consensus.” He also said Hamas has begun discussions to „solidify its positions,“ without providing further details.
According to Trump’s plan, the negotiations will include disarming Hamas and the establishment of an internationally backed authority to run the embattled Gaza Strip.
Kassem reiterated that the group won’t be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza. Hamas-run government bodies in the Gaza Strip are running day-to-day affairs to avoid a power void, he said.
“Government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the vacuum is very dangerous, and this will continue until an administrative committee is formed and agreed upon by all Palestinian factions,” he said.
Kassem called for a Community Support Committee, a body of Palestinian technocrats, to run the day-to-day affairs, to be established promptly.
Rafah border crossing
Israel didn’t open the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, in an attempt to pressure Hamas to return more hostages’ bodies. Hamas says it needs special equipment to locate the bodies of additional hostages, but Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.
The Rafah crossing was the only one not controlled by Israel before the war. It has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Palestinians to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority’s Interior Ministry in Ramallah announced procedures for Palestinians wishing to leave or enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. For those who want to leave Gaza, Palestinian Embassy staff from Cairo will be at the crossing to issue temporary travel documents that allow entry into Egypt. Palestinians who wish to enter the Gaza Strip will need to apply at the embassy in Cairo for relevant entry documents.
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in the territory. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by U.N. agencies and many independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.
Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.
Hamas rejects US claim
The group rejected on Sunday a claim by the U.S. State Department that said it had credible reports of an imminent planned attack by Hamas against residents of Gaza.
“This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement Saturday.
Hamas called the claim “false allegations,” and accused Israel of supporting armed groups operating in Israeli-controlled areas. Hamas urged the U.S. administration to pressure Israel to stop supporting the gangs and “providing them a safe haven.”
Hamas-led fighters clashed with at least two armed groups in eastern Gaza City that the group alleges are involved in looting aid and collaborating with Israel. They executed a handful of suspects in public, in widely condemned street killings.
The Interior Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, says its forces were working to restore law and order across areas Israel’s military withdrew from following the ceasefire.
Samy Magdy reported from Cairo.
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