Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military Oct. 28 to immediately launch “powerful” strikes on Gaza, threatening to unravel the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement posted to X.
Shortly after the announcement, Reuters reported that at least two people were killed and four others were wounded in a strike on a residential building in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood. Gaza officials, witnesses, and Hamas media said another strike hit near Shifa hospital, the largest operational hospital in northern Gaza, according to the outlet.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of violating the truce after returning partial remains of an Israeli hostage, which it said had already been recovered “in a military operation about 2 years ago.”
“This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization,” the prime minister’s office said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel’s steps in response to the violations.”
Under the ceasefire deal that took effect Oct. 10, Hamas must return all Israeli hostages and the remains of those killed and Israel is required to withdraw from Gaza in stages and return Palestinian prisoners and detainees. CatholicVote reported Oct. 16 that while Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages earlier this month, the group has yet to return most of the deceased hostages’ remains, claiming it needs special equipment to locate the bodies.
Since the truce began, both Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of repeated ceasefire violations amid continuing reports of internal violence, CatholicVote reported.
Earlier on Oct. 28, Israeli media said the country’s forces exchanged fire with Hamas militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to Reuters. Hamas reportedly denied responsibility for the attack.
On Oct. 25, President Donald Trump again urged Hamas to “start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly,” warning on Truth Social that if they did not comply, “other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.”
“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours,” he wrote. “I am watching this very closely.”
Still, the Trump administration has recently expressed frustration with Israel’s government. In an Oct. 15 interview with Time magazine, Trump explained that he had pressed Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza.
“I said to Bibi, ‘Bibi, you can’t fight the world. You can fight individual battles, but the world’s against you.’ And Israel is a very small place compared to the world,” Trump said, adding, “I stopped him, because he would have just kept going. It could have gone on for years. It would have gone on for years.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, Vice President JD Vance also criticized a recent Israeli Knesset vote to annex the West Bank, saying he was personally insulted by the move and that the administration “certainly [wasn’t] happy about it.”
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