• Nine Palestinians killed as Netanyahu orders intense strikes
• Israel, Hamas trade barbs over ceasefire violations
• Vance claims ceasefire still holding despite ‘skirmishes’
• Guarantors, mediators urged to intervene

GAZA CITY: Israel on Tuesday resumed air strikes on Gaza, violating the US-brokered ceasefire, on the orders of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who earlier accused Hamas of violating the truce and attacking Israeli forces.

However, US Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire in Gaza was still holding despite ‘skirmishes’.

“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.

At least nine Palestinians were killed in strikes targeting several areas, said Gaza civil defence agency, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas.

Earlier during the day, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during a raid near the occupied city of Jenin, despite the new ceasefire mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar two weeks ago.

Gaza’s government media office accused Israel of committing 125 violations of the ceasefire since it came into effect on Oct 10, including killing 94 Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera.

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed that Hamas had committed a ‘clear violation’ of the deal and vowed a powerful response after security consultations over the delay in handing over the remains of the Israeli prisoners.

However, Hamas accused Israel of obstructing efforts to recover the bodies of deceased Israeli prisoners, saying it blocked heavy machinery from entering Gaza and prevented search teams — including Red Cross personnel — from accessing key areas.

The sound of explosions and drones continued across Gaza despite the ceasefire.

Israel’s war on Gaza has already killed 68,527 Palestinians and wounded 170,395 others in over two years, while displacing millions.

50 bodies found

Khalil Abu Alrish, the director of civil defence operations in Gaza City, where a search is under way for bodies that were buried in a makeshift grave last year after Israel besieged al-Shifa Hospital, said, “We have recovered more than 50 bodies,” most of which were unidentified.

He said there were “no identification tools”, such as DNA analysis equipment, so authorities would be forced to distinguish each unidentified body with a unique code before burying them in a “special cemetery”.

Three of the Palestinians killed during the operation in the Kafr Qud village were identified as Abdullah Mohammed Omar Jalamneh, Qais Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Beitawi and Ahmed Azmi Aref Nashrati.

AFP footage showed Palestinian firefighters extinguishing flames on the mangled remains of a car and nearby olive trees in Kafr Qud, as well as onlookers examining mattresses and personal belongings.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz hailed the operation, warning that any attempt to rebuild “infrastructure in Judea and Samaria” would be crushed with an iron fist.

On the other hand, the Israeli authorities claimed Hamas was deliberately dragging its feet in releasing the remains of prisoners, with the latest return found to belong to a captive whose body was recovered two years ago.

Guarantors urged to intervene

However, in a statement, Hamas dismissed Israel’s allegations that it has been “slow” to release the bodies of Israeli prisoners as a “baseless” attempt “to mislead public opinion”. They also accused Israel of trying “to fabricate false pretexts as a prelude to taking new aggressive steps against our people in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement”.

“In light of this, we call on the mediators and guarantor parties to shoulder their responsibilities in confronting these serious obstructions,” said Hamas.

Across the enclave, rescuers were searching through rubble for the remains of thousands of Palestinians still believed missing from Israeli strikes which destroyed most of the Gaza enclave.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2025