Ceasefire Faces Crucial Test Amid Allegations of Attack by Israel Against Hamas

An Israeli military official has reported that Hamas engaged Israeli troops in Rafah using rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire. This attack triggered retaliatory strikes from Israel, coming just nine days into the established ceasefire.

According to an Israeli insider, these attacks resulted in casualties among Israeli forces. The confrontation took place beyond the designated “yellow line,” marking the initial withdrawal boundary set by the ceasefire terms.

In response to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a security briefing on Sunday morning with Defense Minister Israel Katz and military leaders. Meanwhile, Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right Minister of National Security, urged Netanyahu to reignite the conflict in Gaza with “full force.”

Although Hamas has yet to issue a formal response to these allegations, senior official Izzat Al-Rishq stated on Telegram that the group remains committed to the ceasefire. He accused Israel of “manufacturing flimsy excuses to justify its actions.”

Details surrounding the latest skirmish remain scarce, but it unfolded on Sunday morning as Hamas announced that its Rada’a security force targeted a “hideout” belonging to an Israeli-supported militia led by Yasser Abu Shabab in Rafah. Earlier in June, Israel acknowledged arming such militias to counteract Hamas.

Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said these militias now operate from within Israeli-occupied areas in Gaza from which they “descend on the other half of Gaza, carry out attacks, then go run back to those protected areas”.

Since the ceasefire began last week, Hamas has carried out what it has called a “security campaign” aimed at “collaborators, mercenaries, thieves, bandits, and those cooperating with the Zionist enemy throughout the Gaza Strip”.

The internal clashes have created a volatile security situation in the battered enclave with violence erupting between Hamas and rival groups in several areas across Gaza, including an incident that culminated in an apparent public execution of eight people in a square in Gaza City while large crowds were watching.

Hamas and Israel have accused each other violating the nascent ceasefire.

Israel has shot and killed Palestinians it claimed were approaching the Yellow Line, in what Hamas has called a “flagrant violation” of the ceasefire commitments.

Israel has also accused Hamas of delaying the return of all of the deceased hostages held in Gaza as required by the deal, and has closed a key border crossing until further notice.