Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Wednesday of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement after a military officer was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah and Israel vowed retaliation.
The terrorist group refuses to disarm © Mena Today
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Wednesday of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement after a military officer was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah and Israel vowed retaliation.
His office said in a statement that Hamas must fully uphold the October agreement, noting that it envisaged the militant group being removed from power in Gaza as well as demilitarisation and deradicalisation of the territory.
"Israel will respond accordingly," the statement added.
The Israeli military earlier said that an explosive device had detonated against a military vehicle in the southern Rafah area of Gaza and that one officer had been lightly injured.
Violence has subsided but not stopped since the Gaza truce took effect on October 10, and the sides have regularly accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Gaza's health ministry says Israel has killed more than 400 people in the territory since the ceasefire went into effect.
A 20-point plan issued by U.S. President Donald Trump in September calls for an initial truce followed by steps towards a wider peace. It ultimately calls for Hamas to disarm and have no governing role in Gaza and for Israel to pull out of the territory, which remains in ruins after two years of war.
The sides have not fully agreed to everything in it. Hamas has said it will only hand over its arms if a Palestinian state is established.
Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Nayera Abdallah
A 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel went into effect on Thursday and President Donald Trump said the next meeting between the United States and Iran may take place over the weekend, adding to optimism that the Iran war could be nearing an end.
Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war.
A Frenchman whose role in a fatal hit-and-run in Israel more than a decade ago triggered a diplomatic dispute between Paris and Jerusalem, was shot dead on a street in the wealthy Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine on Thursday, French prosecutors said.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.