A displaced Palestinian boy carries a box of emergency food aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) after receiving it at a distribution point in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza Strip, on Oct. 19, 2025. (Credit: Illustrative photo: Eyad Baba/AFP)
The Israeli army said on Sunday that it had carried out new strikes in the southern Gaza Strip, following earlier bombardments in the area of Rafah, which it described as a response to attacks by Hamas, claims denied by the movement.
“In response to the blatant violation of the cease-fire agreement earlier today,” the Israeli army said in a military statement, “we have begun a series of strikes against Hamas terrorist targets in southern Gaza,” as Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the ceasefire that came into effect on Oct. 10. The al-Hadath channel reported at least 20 strikes.
According to an AFP journalist, the strikes targeted the eastern part of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Citing Arab media, Haaretz reported that the strikes also hit Khan Younis and the Nusseirat refugee camp. The Israeli daily added that al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza reported three deaths in a school converted into a displaced persons camp.
Civilians killed
Earlier on Sunday, the Gaza Civil Defense reported that Israeli strikes had killed at least fifteen people across the Palestinian territory, updating an earlier toll of 11, amid reciprocal accusations of cease-fire violations between Israel and Hamas.
Mahmoud Bassal, spokesperson for the Civil Defense, a rescue service operating under Hamas authority, said six of the victims were killed in an Israeli strike on al-Zawaida, in central Gaza, targeting a “group of civilians,” all displaced from northern areas. Another strike on “tents of displaced persons near Khan Younis” also killed a woman and two children, he added. The Israeli army told AFP that it was verifying these claims.
Earlier in the morning, Israel said it had carried out airstrikes in southern Gaza in retaliation for alleged Hamas attacks on its positions, which the movement denied, before conducting further strikes in the sector, citing “the blatant violation of the cease-fire agreement earlier today.”
Due to media restrictions in Gaza and limited access on the ground, AFP cannot independently verify the claims from the different parties.
Cease-fire obligations and hostages
Under the cease-fire agreement, Hamas and its allies committed to release all remaining hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023. To date, they have freed 20 surviving hostages but returned only 12 of the 28 deceased hostages, citing difficulties in locating them under the rubble.
Beyond the incomplete return of hostages, Israel accuses Hamas of targeting its troops in areas of the enclave where they are stationed under the agreement, a claim denied by Palestinian fighters. An Israeli military official said that the first wave of strikes on Sunday morning was in retaliation for at least three attacks on its forces. “The army responded to at least three incidents in which Hamas fired at our troops positioned behind the yellow line in the agreed locations,” he said, referring to the withdrawal line of the Israeli army under the cease-fire.
In two incidents in Rafah, southern Gaza, Hamas allegedly opened fire and used a rocket launcher against Israeli troops, some of whom were engineering units “working to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in southern Gaza.”
In a separate incident in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, Palestinian militants reportedly crossed the yellow line into areas controlled by Israel and were “eliminated by a precise strike,” the military official added. Hamas denied these accusations, asserting that it was respecting the truce and accusing Israel of seeking “false pretexts” to resume the war.
Palestinian witnesses said clashes also broke out in Rafah, in an area still held by Israel, “between Hamas and a local Palestinian gang known as Abu Shabab, supported by Israel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Defense Minister Israel Katz and the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad security agencies. He ordered “strong measures against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” according to a statement from his office.
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