Hamas accuses Israel of breaching truce following Gaza air attacks

The Palestinian movement Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire following a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, including in the Khan Younis area in the south.

In a statement published through its official channels, Hamas called on the countries guaranteeing the truce agreement, as well as the US administration, to “immediately take measures to stop the occupation’s policy aimed at undermining the ceasefire agreement.”

Palestinian sources earlier reported that Israeli aircraft had carried out strikes on several locations throughout Gaza. Israeli media, meanwhile, said the attacks were allegedly in response to attempts by Hamas militants to plant explosive devices along the so-called “yellow line,” referring to areas of Gaza under Israeli control.

The Israel Defence Forces have not issued any official comment regarding the strikes.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, the airstrikes killed 11 people on Saturday, January 31, including civilians who had been sheltering in a tent in the southern part of the enclave.

Munir al-Barsh, director general of the Hamas-run ministry, told AFP that the deaths and injuries occurred “as a result of strikes carried out by the occupation targeting civilians in a tent and an apartment.” He said 20 people were wounded and taken to hospitals in Gaza City in the north and Khan Younis in the south.

Barsh added that Israel “continues its serious violations of the ceasefire agreement amid a severe shortage of medical supplies, medicines, and medical equipment.”

Gaza’s Hamas-run government press office said the strike on the tent in southern Gaza killed seven members of a displaced family, including a child and an elderly person.

The health ministry reported that since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, at least 509 people have been killed.

The truce, brokered by the US, has been in place since October and moved into its second phase in January. This stage is intended to include Hamas’s disarmament, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force. Despite this, both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of violating the agreement.

Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the war in the densely populated coastal enclave, with hundreds of thousands still living in tents or makeshift shelters.

The conflict began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,221 people.

By Tamilla Hasanova