Cairo/Gaza: A senior Hamas’s delegation arrived in Cairo on Monday to follow up on the ceasefire agreement for Gaza, as escalating Israeli attacks threatened to unravel the fragile truce that has so far left nearly a hundred Palestinians dead.
According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, 97 Palestinians have been killed and 132 injured since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, with at least 46 killed in a series of Israeli strikes on Sunday.
Israel claimed its military action was in response to Hamas “violating” the truce, alleging the group had fired on its engineering units in Rafah. Israeli forces also hit a shelter for displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp, along with other targets in northern and southern Gaza.
Hamas, however, denied any violations, saying it has abided by the truce “with utmost precision and responsibility.”
The group accused Israel of “direct fire against civilians, deliberate shelling, and the arrest of non-combatants,” and called on the guarantor states — Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States — to intervene immediately.
An Egyptian official confirmed that “round-the-clock contacts” were underway to contain the escalation.
US President Donald Trump said he believed Hamas was “sticking to the truce,” though other armed factions might be behind the attacks that killed two Israeli soldiers. “We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas… but either way, it’s going to be handled toughly, but properly,” Trump told reporters.
Despite Washington’s assessment that Hamas had not violated the ceasefire, Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza, blocking humanitarian aid and raising fears of renewed famine in the enclave.
Meanwhile, Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were expected to arrive in Israel on Monday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss maintaining the ceasefire’s implementation and future security arrangements.
