EXCLUSIVE FROM FOX: As the second phase of the U.S.-mediated ceasefire between Hamas and Israel gets underway, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are raising alarms over alleged breaches by Hamas. They claim that the group is exploiting ambulances, hospitals, and schools to reassert control in northern Gaza.

The IDF shared with Fox News Digital exclusive video footage purportedly showing Hamas operatives using an ambulance for transporting militants and arms from within the grounds of the Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital to various strategic locations in northern Gaza.

“The footage reveals an armed individual entering an ambulance with a Kalashnikov rifle. This ambulance is a crucial link in the chain for us. We’ve forwarded this intelligence to American authorities,” an IDF representative explained regarding the video provided to Fox News Digital.

The Israel Defense Forces have accused Hamas of allegedly utilizing ambulances for the illicit movement of terrorists and weapons in northern Gaza. (IDF)

The initial stage of the ceasefire agreement mandated Hamas to release all hostages held in Gaza. The subsequent phase focuses on the disarmament of the group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and EU.

An IDF spokesperson conveyed to Fox News Digital, “Recent weeks have shown troubling signs. We’re witnessing Hamas making its way back to the forefront, positioning themselves at strategic locations.”

The yellow line separates IDF-controlled territory in Gaza, which is estimated to be 53%, from the enclave area not under Israeli control.

“Hamas has returned to schools, hospitals and kindergartens and is turning them into military bases. A Hamas commander is in charge of each school in Jabalia in northern Gaza,” the IDF official claimed.

They continued, “We have seen Hamas with Kalashnikovs and, over the past few weeks, Hamas has been using ambulances. We have tracked over several weeks that Hamas uses ambulances to do checks in Jabalia. It is a big change. We see the confidence of Hamas using ambulances. It is a symbol for Hamas that it is gaining confidence and rebuilding itself, a sign of a potential raid on our bases in the future.”

The city of Jabalia was the scene of intense combat for the IDF during the over two-year war with Hamas. In May 2024, Fox News Digital reported the IDF secured the bodies of seven hostages from Jabalia. Hamas turned the “civilian area into a fortified combat compound,” the IDF said at the time about Jabalia.  

An Israel Defense Force video allegedly shows armed terrorists loading weapons into an ambulance near a hospital in northern Gaza. (IDF)

When asked about the number of Hamas fighters in Jabalia in January 2026, the IDF official told Fox News Digital, “There are 3,000 Hamas operatives in Jabalia. 75,000 citizens have returned to Jabalia.”

The official said, “In the Jabalia refugee camp there are still functioning tunnels. We are working on destroying tunnels inside of the yellow line and are at an advanced stage of clearing tunnels.”

Fox News Digital has reported extensively during the war on Hamas’ use of hospitals as military centers. The IDF operation against Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza resulted in the capture of roughly 100 suspected Hamas terrorists.

The IDF announced that as part of the ceasefire agreement and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, IDF troops under the Southern Command have begun marking the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip to establish tactical clarity on the ground. (IDF)

Shortly before the ceasefire came into effect in Oct. 2025, the IDF showed international reporters a Hamas terrorist tunnel adjacent to the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza City.  The IDF said that Hamas terrorists were in the hospital and Jordanian medical personnel cooperated with Hamas. The state of Jordan denied the links to Hamas at its field hospital.

The IDF official said, “At the Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital, a Hamas commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel controls the hospital. We have notified the Americans. The freedom of action of IDF is limited. Hamas is violating the ceasefire. We have footage of Yemen Al-Saeed Hospital that we used to see before Oct. 7. Hamas places citizens in the hospital. The ambulance with Hamas goes through major crossroads.”

Hamas invaded parts of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and murdered over 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 individuals.

The IDF has accused Hamas terrorists of allegedly violating the ceasefire by using an ambulance to transport terrorists and weapons in northern Gaza. (IDF)

The IDF official, along with many U.S. and Israeli counter-terrorism officials, have placed large question marks over the possibility of disarming one of the world’s worst and most ideologically committed Islamist terrorist movements.

Hamas officials have stressed over the last week and since the ceasefire started that it will not disarm. The senior Hamas official, Moussa Abu Marzouk, told the Qatari government-controlled outlet Al-Jazeera last week that the Hamas agreement to abandon its weapons “never happened, not for a single moment did we talk about the surrender of weapons, or any formula about destroying, surrendering, or disarmament.”

Hamas terrorists emerge in a show of strength escorting Red Cross vehicles carrying three Israeli hostages to be released as part of the ceasefire deal. (TPS-IL)

The IDF official said, “There is a lot of belief in phase two and it will include disarming Hamas. I am very pessimistic in this matter. Hamas will not give away its weapons, and it will put on a show. Hamas might have civilians give away weapons. The game will be how good the show is.” The official added, “We have indications from the ground level that there is no process of full disarmament by Hamas. We have intelligence that Hamas operatives know that no full disarmament is planned.”

When asked about disarming Hamas, Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser (res.), a former head of research in the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told Fox News Digital, “Hamas is not willing to disarm but may be ready to give up some heavy weapons.” 

Fox News Digital efforts to reach the Hamas spokesman were not successful.