Has Trump's 'Peace Show' Reached Its End in Gaza?
According to Borna, medical sources reported that Israeli forces killed at least 90 people, including 24 children, in late-night attacks on the Gaza Strip, an action deemed a clear violation of the ceasefire mediated by the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel attacked in response to the killing of one of its soldiers, but stressed that "nothing is going to threaten the ceasefire." He added: "Hamas must behave correctly!"
Hospital sources stated that in the new Israeli attacks, 42 Palestinians were killed in central Gaza, 31 in the north, and 18 in the south. Five people also died in an attack on a tent sheltering displaced people in Deir al-Balah. Furthermore, in the West Bank, the Israeli army arrested nine Palestinians after raiding Tulkarm, Nablus, and Qalqilya, and re-arrested approximately 50 people—many of whom had recently been released from prison—at the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem.
Conversely, Hamas announced it would postpone the handover of the remains of an Israeli captive, citing Israel's violation of the agreement. This confrontation, occurring two weeks after the truce was established, represents one of its biggest tests. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance reacted by saying he expects "scattered clashes will soon end," insisting that the ceasefire remains in effect.
Netanyahu’s Claims and Hamas’s Rebuttals
Benjamin Netanyahu's order for "powerful attacks" followed an Israeli official's report of shooting directed at Israeli forces in Rafah. Israel further claimed Hamas had clearly violated the agreement by handing over the remains of a captive found prior to the war—a claim Netanyahu labeled a "clear violation of the ceasefire agreement" which mandates the prompt return of remaining captives' bodies. Israel also accused Hamas of fabricating the scene where the remains were discovered, releasing a 14-minute military drone video to substantiate its claim.
Two U.S. officials told the Associated Press that Israel had informed Washington before carrying out the strikes, though it remains unclear whether the U.S. was complicit in the justification or if Israel was simply using a new pretext to reignite the conflict. Hamas, in a statement, denied responsibility for the Rafah shooting, affirming its adherence to the truce: "Israel's violent attacks across the Gaza Strip are a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement." The group urged mediators to pressure Israel to stop the attacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed on Tuesday that Hamas had attacked Israeli forces, vowing that the group would pay a "heavy price" for the attacks and for "violating the agreement to return the captives' remains."
Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas's political bureau in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that Israel must "stop falsely accusing us of violating the agreement." He added that his group faced "serious difficulties" in the process of locating captives' bodies, stating: "We have done everything possible to find the bodies, and the occupier is fully responsible for any delay in this process."
The recent developments have brought the ceasefire agreement to the brink of collapse, increasing fears of a return to war against Gaza's bombarded and besieged population. Netanyahu had previously stated that the remains delivered by Hamas did not belong to the 13 remaining captives but to an individual whose body the Israeli army had found about two years earlier.
According to Israeli media reports, potential Israeli options include a complete halt to humanitarian aid, expanding Israeli control over the Gaza Strip, or resuming targeted attacks against Hamas leaders. Netanyahu has been seeking a pretext to resume the genocide in Gaza since the ceasefire began. The continued closure of the Rafah crossing, the restriction of aid, and the ongoing sporadic attacks all indicate that he is probing the limits of the agreement brokered by Trump.
Some American analysts and political observers believe that given Trump's propaganda investment in the Gaza peace, it is unlikely that this dispute will entirely destroy the truce. They suggest that Netanyahu’s hands are tied because the U.S. has stated it will not permit the continuation of the war in Gaza. It now appears Israel is attempting to manufacture scattered clashes to impose a ceasefire on its own terms—one where control over borders and targeting remains in Tel Aviv's hands.
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