The United States has warned that it has “credible reports” of an “imminent” plan by Hamas to attack Palestinian civilians in Gaza—an act Washington says would be a direct breach of the ceasefire agreement.
In a statement, the State Department said such an attack would be a “direct and grave” violation that would “undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,” adding that it had alerted other guarantors of the truce, including Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
The department did not provide further details. Hamas rejected the allegation as false.
The first phase of the ceasefire is under way. All living hostages have been released and the return of bodies continues, as part of a deal that has also seen Israel free Palestinian detainees.
Israeli authorities said on Saturday they had identified the remains of Ronen Engel, one of two sets of bodies transferred to the Red Cross in Gaza the same day.
Elements of the prisoner-and-detainee exchange have been reported by multiple outlets. A draft framework cited this month outlined the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,700 additional detainees, figures that align with separate tallies of over 1,900 prisoners freed in earlier phases this year.
Washington said it has pressed Hamas to uphold the ceasefire’s terms and warned that “measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” should the group proceed with any attack.
President Donald Trump has publicly cautioned Hamas against killing civilians, later clarifying that he was not ordering the deployment of U.S. ground troops to Gaza.
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Rafah border crossing with Egypt will remain closed “until further notice,” linking any reopening to the return of all deceased hostages under the truce framework.
The announcement followed conflicting messages from the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt that the crossing could reopen, highlighting the fragility of the ceasefire arrangements.
Last week, media outlets reported graphic videos of a public execution in Gaza City, which BBC Verify authenticated. The footage showed gunmen lining up eight people with their hands tied behind their backs before killing them in a crowded square. The identities of the masked gunmen could not be confirmed, though some appeared to wear the green headbands associated with Hamas.
Tensions also rose after Gaza’s civil defence ministry—run by Hamas—said 11 members of one Palestinian family were killed by an Israeli tank shell in the deadliest single incident involving Israeli soldiers in Gaza since the ceasefire began.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops fired on a “suspicious vehicle” that had crossed a so-called yellow line marking areas still occupied by Israeli forces; there are no physical markers of this line, and independent verification has not been provided.
The war erupted after the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 assault, in which militants killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages. Since then, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry—figures the UN has often cited while noting it cannot independently verify each death. A UN commission’s report in September accusing Israel of genocide was flatly rejected by Israel as “distorted and false.”
Source: BBC
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