In the wake of accusations against Hamas for breaching a peace deal mediated by Donald Trump, Israel has initiated airstrikes targeting southern Gaza.

The Israeli Defense Forces reported that Hamas militants engaged in “multiple attacks” beyond the designated “yellow line” buffer zone, describing these actions as a “flagrant breach” of the ceasefire terms.

According to an Israeli military representative, Hamas operatives launched an assault on Israeli troops using a rocket-propelled grenade and sniper fire.

“These incidents occurred within an Israeli-controlled region, east of the Yellow Line. This constitutes a significant breach of the ceasefire,” the spokesperson stated.

Initial reports indicate no immediate casualties following the airstrikes in Rafah and the city of Jabalia in southern Gaza.

Nonetheless, a doctor from al-Aqsa hospital informed BBC News that an airstrike on al-Zawaida in central Gaza resulted in the deaths of six Palestinians and injured seven others.

The strikes were in response to ‘terror operatives in the Gaza Strip launching an attack on Israeli forces in Rafah,’ The Times of Israel reported.

Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq claimed the terror group remains commited to the ceasefire, blaming Israel for violating the ceasefire. 

The deal, which came into force on October 10, has seen the release of all 20 living Israeli hostages and almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Israel has launched an attack in Gaza after claiming Hamas violated the Donald Trump-brokered peace deal. (Hamas gunmen pictured on October 15)

Hamas fighters attacked Israeli forces with a rocket-propelled grenade and sniper fire, an Israeli official said. (Pictured: Gaza City on October 18, 2025)

The attacks launched by Hamas were intending to target Yasser Abu Shabab, leader of the Popular Forces militia, Hamas-affiliated media reported. 

The Palestinian militia, which opposes Hamas and is reportedly backed by Israel, is located in a zone which remains under Israeli control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Katz, the country’s defence minister, have held urgent talks about the situation.

Netanyahu ordered the heads of his security forces to ‘act forcefully against terrorist targets in the Gaza strip’. 

The Israeli military said on Friday that ‘several terrorists’ had opened fire on soldiers in the Rafah area, causing no injuries.

The IDF later said it struck another group of ‘terrorists’ that were approaching troops in Khan Younis on the same day. 

The military would continue to operate to remove immediate threats, it added. 

The Israeli army began its withdrawal from Gaza last week but it still controls around half of Gaza, having withdrawn, under Phase 1 of the Trump plan, to an agreed ‘Yellow Line’. 

Under the 20-point peace plan, signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on October 13 to end the two-year war, Hamas will have no role in governing Gaza.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hardline security minister, called on Netanyahu to order the IDF to ‘fully resume combat in the Gaza Strip with maximum force’ after the attacks.  

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who alongside Ben-Gvir opposed a ceasefire deal, called for renewed attacks following reports that Hamas violated the ceasefire on Sunday.

‘War!’ the far-right politician wrote on X. 

It comes after the US warned that Hamas is planning an ‘imminent’ attack on civilians in Gaza in a ‘direct and grave’ breach of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas has recalled 7,000 fighters as it looks to assert control over Gaza following clashes with local militias

A horrifying new video on social media appears to show several men being executed by Hamas as the terror group continues to skirmish with local militias

It said it had informed fellow mediating countries Qatar, Turkey and Egypt of a ‘credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.’

‘This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,’ the US State Department said.

The US did not provide further details of the attack or how it would constitute a breach of the ceasefire.

Hamas denied planning an attack and accused Israel of supporting rival militias in Gaza.

Hamas, who will have no role in governing Gaza under the US plan, have already recalled 7,000 members of its security forces following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave last week.

The group’s militants have been engaged in gunfights with local clans in Gaza as it looks to re-establish its authority over the strip. 

The US warned Hamas that an impending attack on Gazan civilians would violate the ceasefire.

‘Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,’ a statement said.

Trump has warned Hamas against the killing of civilians.

‘If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday, before stating US troops would not enter Gaza.

The terror group, which has ruled the enclave for 18 years, is facing challenges from armed Palestinian groups.

The fragile ceasefire agreement, which Trump said would bring in a ‘new era of peace’, has come under increasing pressure after Hamas failed to release the bodies of all 28 dead hostages on Monday. 

Only 12 have so far been released and Hamas claims it needs specialist excavation kit to find the remaining bodies.

Hamas claims it needs specialist excavation kit to find the remaining bodies of the dead hostages

On Saturday Israel received a furthter two bodies, those of Ronen Tommy Engel and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, meaning 16 still remain in Gaza.

Israel freed 250 Palestinian prisoners in its jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza as part of the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently maintained that the war cannot end until Hamas gives up its weapons and ceases to control Gaza, a demand that the fighters have rejected, torpedoing all previous peace efforts. 

He said on Saturday the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would remain closed until Hamas returns the remaining bodies.