^{The IDF's 13th Golani Battalion and 7th Armored Brigade withdraw from positions in Gaza back into Israel, Oct. 10, 2025. Photo by Oren Cohen/Flash90.}

Israel on Sunday night reaffirmed its commitment to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, which had been threatened after a series of Hamas attacks on IDF soldiers sparked military retaliation.

“In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of significant strikes in response to Hamas’s violations, the [Israel Defense Forces] has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire,” said the army.

“The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation,” the statement added.

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday evening that the incident would be handled “toughly but properly” and that the truce in the Strip remained in effect.

“We’re gonna have to see what’s happening,” the president said, asked about Israel’s retaliatory strikes. “We wanna make sure that it’s gonna be very peaceful with Hamas, and as you know, they’ve been quite rambunctious, they’ve been doing some shooting,” he said.

However, Trump told reporters that it was possible the terrorist group’s leadership “isn’t involved in that,” suggesting that “some rebels within” launched the attacks on Israeli forces.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance, speaking with journalists on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday night, claimed that “when we talk about Hamas, you’re talking about 40 different cells; it’s disjointed.

“Some of those cells will probably honor the ceasefire. Many of those cells, as we saw some evidence of today, will not,” Vance continued.

“Before we can actually ensure that Hamas is properly disarmed, that’s gonna require, as we know, some of these Gulf Arab states to get forces in there to actually apply some law and order,” he said, stressing that this security infrastructure will be put in place when “you actually go a little bit down the path” of Trump’s 20-point peace deal for the Strip.

Hamas terrorists attacked IDF soldiers in southern Gaza on Sunday, triggering retaliatory airstrikes and high-level political deliberations in Jerusalem.

An IDF source told Reuters that Hamas carried out several attacks on Israeli soldiers beyond the Yellow Line—the boundary to which the military withdrew under the Trump administration’s peace plan.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired an anti-tank missile and gunfire toward IDF troops operating to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the Rafah area, in southern Gaza, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement,” the military said.

Two soldiers were killed in the attack: Maj. Yaniv Kula, 26, and Staff Sgt. Itay Yavetz, 21, both from the Nahal Infantry Brigade and residents of Modi’in.

“In response, the IDF has begun striking in the area to eliminate the threat and dismantle tunnel shafts and military structures used for terrorist activity,” Sunday’s military statement added.

Pressure from Washington

While Jerusalem initially decided to close all crossings to Gaza and halt the delivery of humanitarian aid as outline in the truce, the move was reversed following pressure from Washington, U.S. news outlet Axios and Israel’s Channel 12 News reported on Monday morning.

Unnamed Israeli officials confirmed to the outlets that the delivery of aid supplies to Gaza would resume as early as Monday morning.

The IDF on Monday identified several Palestinian terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line that morning, it said in a statement, adding that troops in Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighborhood opened fire in response.

“IDF troops in the Southern Command are deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement, and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” it added.

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he had instructed the military to “convey a clear message to Hamas leaders in Gaza through the American monitoring mechanism.”

Every Hamas terrorist operative located beyond the Yellow Line “must evacuate immediately,” the defense minister warned, adding that “the Hamas leadership will bear responsibility for any incident” there.

“Anyone who remains in the area will become a target for attack without any further warning, in order to allow IDF soldiers to operate freely and immediately against any threat,” he said. “The protection of IDF soldiers is a top priority, and all necessary measures will be taken to ensure it.”

President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner touched down in Israel on Monday afternoon, as part of the U.S. push to keep the truce from collapsing and discuss further phases of the deal.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to “fully resume combat in the Gaza Strip with maximum force” in response to the ceasefire violations.

“The false illusions that Hamas will change its ways, or even adhere to the agreement it signed, are proving, as expected, to be dangerous to our security. The Nazi terrorist organization must be completely destroyed—and the sooner, the better,” said Ben-Gvir.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded with one word, tweeting on Sunday afternoon: “War.”

Under the ceasefire deal, Hamas was required to return all 28 hostage bodies it held by Oct. 13. So far, it has transferred 12 to Israel. The Palestinian terrorist organization is also refusing to disarm and intends to remain the ruling party in Gaza during an interim period, both in violation of Trump’s 20-point peace plan unveiled on Sept. 29.

Source: JNS