Netanyahu accuses Hamas of violating ceasefire, orders ‘powerful attacks’ on Gaza

Israeli planes launched strikes in Gaza City on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the militant group Hamas of violating a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out “powerful attacks” on Gaza.

No fewer than 11 people were killed and four wounded in a strike on a residential building in the city’s Sabra neighbourhood, and an area close to Shifa hospital, the largest operational hospital in northern Gaza, was also hit.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes, which were the latest violence in a fragile three-week-old ceasefire and which followed a statement by Netanyahu’s office saying he had ordered immediate attacks.

The statement did not give a specific reason for the attacks but an Israeli military official said Hamas had violated the ceasefire by carrying out an attack against Israeli forces in an area of the enclave that is under Israeli control.

“This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire,” the official told AFP.

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United States Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza is still holding despite “skirmishes”, after Israel launched air strikes and accused Hamas of attacking its troops.

“The ceasefire is holding. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes,” Vance said in comments broadcast on Fox News and posted on social media by the White House.

The US-backed ceasefire agreement went into effect on October 10, halting two years of war that was triggered by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and that has devastated the narrow coastal strip.

Both sides have accused each other of ceasefire violations.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli media reported an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the reports, while Hamas denied responsibility for an attack on Israeli forces in Rafah.

The group also said in a statement that it remained committed to the ceasefire deal in Gaza.

Tuesday’s strikes on Gaza City followed what Israel called a “targeted strike” on Saturday on a person in central Gaza who it said was planning to attack Israeli troops.

The Star