Has the ceasefire agreement been broken? Israel claims to have attacked Rafah, Hamas denies this

On October 19, the Israeli army announced that its fighter jets had carried out air strikes near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The army said the attack came after armed groups opened fire on Israeli soldiers, violating the current ceasefire agreement, according to the army. It claims that Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at Israeli engineering vehicles on Sunday morning and shot at Israeli forces near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The army leadership announced that it would respond to such incidents.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered security forces on Sunday to take “decisive action.”

“Due to Hamas's breach of the ceasefire, Prime Minister Netanyahu consulted with the Minister of Defense (Yisrael Katz) and the heads of the Shin Bet and Mossad intelligence agencies and instructed them to take decisive action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

The armed wing of Hamas responded to the information about the Israeli airstrike by stating that it was not aware of any clashes or incidents in the Rafah area that preceded the airstrike. At the same time, Hamas representatives reaffirmed their commitment to abide by all agreements, including the ceasefire that applies to the entire Gaza Strip.

(reuters, sie)