The uneasy calm in Gaza cracked open again on Sunday as Israel launched air strikes across the territory, saying it was responding to a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire by Hamas. By nightfall, smoke coiled over Rafah and Khan Younis, the air shuddering with explosions that marked the most violent day since the truce began.
The Israeli military reported that two soldiers were killed in Rafah after militants fired an anti-tank missile at their unit. Within hours, the army struck back, hitting what it described as Hamas positions across the Strip. Hospital officials counted at least forty-four dead, many of them civilians.
Hamas insisted it had remained committed to the ceasefire, accusing Israel of breaking it first. The group’s military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, denied any involvement in the Rafah attack, saying communication with its remaining fighters in the area had long been cut off.
In Washington, President Trump tried to project calm, telling reporters the ceasefire “was still in place,” though he admitted Hamas had been “rambunctious.” His envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected in Israel within days to salvage what remains of the fragile U.S.-brokered deal.
That deal — signed on October 10 — had promised a brief reprieve after months of devastation: an end to open fighting, limited troop withdrawals, and the release of prisoners on both sides. It had even brought moments of quiet optimism as aid trucks rolled through battered border crossings.
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But the optimism was short-lived. Residents in Gaza described a night of fire and chaos. In eastern Khan Younis, a line of airstrikes tore through residential blocks. In al-Zawaida, a café and tent by the sea were obliterated, killing several members of Hamas’s elite unit, including Yahya al-Mabhouh, one of the group’s top commanders.
By evening, Israel said it would “resume enforcement of the ceasefire” — a phrase that, for many, carried a bitter irony. The guns had not fallen silent; they had merely paused to reload. And as dawn approached over the Gaza skyline, the promise of peace once again slipped into the smoke.
