Reports of Israeli attacks in Gaza as it accuses Hamas of ‘blatant violation’ of ceasefire – Middle East crisis live | Israel

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel’s war in Gaza is “reaching its conclusion,” announcing plans to give the conflict an official name: “The War of Revival.”

Netanyahu made the remarks before Israeli airstrikes hit Rafah on Sunday morning.

The Times of Israel reports that there was opposition to renaming the war from some hostages’ families and a few members of the cabinet.

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said: “At the end of two consecutive years of fighting, we remember how we began. We rose from the terrible disaster of 7 October.”

He added that Israel would soon award military decorations to soldiers who fought in the campaign – a step traditionally marking the end of a war. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu left the meeting abruptly following news of the attacks across Gaza.

Israeli military airstrikes have also targeted areas in Jabalia, a city in northern Gaza, according to Israeli media, as attacks continue to escalate despite a week-old ceasefire.

Local news agency Wafa reported that at least two Palestinians were killed and several others injured in a strike east of Jabalia. Emergency crews have been unable to reach the site after Israel designated the area a “high-risk zone.”

The attacks come as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu left a cabinet meeting to hold emergency security briefings, amid growing concern over the fragile truce.

The strike is the latest in a series of Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement brokered by the US last week.

Senior Hamas official Izzat Al Risheq has said that the Palestinian militant group remain committed to the ceasefire, which he accused Israel of repeatedly violating:

“Hamas movement reaffirms its commitment to the ceasefire agreement and emphasises that the Zionist occupation is the party continuing to violate the agreement and fabricate baseless pretexts to justify its crimes.”

“Netanyahu’s attempts to evade and disavow his commitments come under pressure from his extremist terrorist coalition, in a bid to escape his responsibilities before the mediators and guarantors.”

Israel have confirmed that the second of two bodies returned overnight by Hamas was that of a Thai farm worker, killed during the 7 October 2023 attack, whose body was taken to Gaza, AFP reports.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the military had informed the family of the deceased hostage, Sonthaya Oakkharasri, that their loved one had been returned to Israel and formally identified.

Israel have launched airstrikes in Rafah in southern Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian media report, as clashes flared between Israeli forces and Hamas despite a fragile US-brokered ceasefire.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said the air force was striking targets in Rafah, while other outlets reported attacks elsewhere in southern Gaza and in the city of Jabalia in the north of the territory.

Israeli TV network Channel 12 reported that the Rafah strikes were aimed at protecting members of the Yasser Abu Shabab militia – an Israeli-backed armed group accused by Palestinian sources of stealing humanitarian aid and attacking civilians during Israel’s two-year war on Gaza.

The Palestinian outlet Quds Network, citing an unnamed security source, said a Hamas-led internal security unit had carried out an operation targeting a hideout belonging to the Yasser Abu Shabab group east of Rafah, shortly before the Israeli airstrikes began.

According to The Times of Israel, “terror operatives in the Gaza Strip launched an attack on Israeli forces in Rafah,” prompting the strikes.

The Israeli military said that Hamas militants have carried out “multiple attacks” against Israeli forces beyond the “yellow line” buffer zone, including a rocket-propelled grenade and sniper fire, calling it a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Israel has launched an attack on Gaza, according to Israeli media, amid escalating tensions and mutual accusations with Hamas over breaches of the US-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending the war in the territory.

There was no immediate comment from the military on the reported attack.

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt will remain closed until further notice, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said, adding its reopening will depend on Hamas handing over the bodies of deceased hostages as the two sides continued to trade blame over ceasefire violations.

Hamas, in a statement late on Saturday, said Netanyahu’s decision to keep the crossing closed “constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement and a repudiation of the commitments he made to the mediators and guarantor parties.”

As of Saturday evening, Hamas had handed back 12 of 28 deceased captives, saying it would need specialist recovery equipment to retrieve the rest from the ruins of Gaza.

In key developments:

• Israel identified the body of a deceased hostage today, after Hamas handed over two bodies of what the militant group said are deceased hostages to the Red Cross late Saturday night.

• Late on Saturday, the US state department said it had received “credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.”

• Hamas has rejected the accusations, calling them “false” and blaming Israel for sponsoring “criminal gangs” responsible for killings, kidnappings and looting in Gaza. The group said its police forces were pursuing those responsible and urged Washington “to stop echoing the occupation’s misleading narrative”.

• Gaza’s media office has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire with Hamas 47 times since the truce came into effect in early October.