The people were killed in two separate incidents Monday morning, both times “by Israeli gunfire as they were returning to check on their homes in the al-Shaaf area, east of al-Tuffah neighborhood, in the east of Gaza City,” said Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the rescue service.
Israel’s military said it had fired at militants who crossed the so-called “Yellow Line” and approached troops in the Shujaiya neighborhood, which is adjacent to al-Tuffah.

The Yellow Line is the boundary behind which Israeli troops pulled back and remain stationed under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Several such incidents have taken place since a fragile US-brokered ceasefire began on October 10, with 80 people killed in total, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The Israeli military struck dozens of Hamas positions across Gaza on Sunday after two soldiers were killed in combat, with Israel accusing the group of “a blatant violation” of the truce.

Hamas denied knowledge of any attack, and one official accused Israel of fabricating “pretexts” to resume the war.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have returned to Gaza’s north since the beginning of the ceasefire, often coming home to piles of rubble where their homes once stood.
With AFP

Israel claimed that it carried out dozens of strikes Israel on Hamas positions in southern Gaza Sunday came after the militant group allegedly targeted its troops in “a blatant violation” of the nine-day-old truce.
Asked by reporters whether the truce was still in effect, Trump said: “Yeah, it is”. The US president, who helped broker the deal, also suggested that Hamas leadership was not involved in any alleged breaches, instead blaming “some rebels within.”

“We want to make sure that it’s going to be very peaceful with Hamas,” Trump said. “It’s going to be handled toughly, but properly.”

Gaza’s civil defense agency said the Israeli strikes killed at least 45 people across the territory.

Four hospitals in Gaza confirmed the death toll of 45 to AFP, saying they had received the dead and wounded.

Israel’s military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

The army said it had “renewed enforcement of the ceasefire” on Sunday but vowed to “respond firmly to any violation of it.”

Hamas denied the accusations, one official accusing Israel of fabricating “pretexts” to resume the war.

A security official also told AFP that Israel was suspending the entry of aid into Gaza due to ceasefire violations.

Israel repeatedly cut off aid to Gaza during the war, exacerbating dire humanitarian conditions, with the United Nations finding it caused a famine there.

‘Blood has returned’
The ceasefire, which began on October 10, halted more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.

The deal established the outline for hostage and prisoner exchanges, and proposed an ambitious roadmap for Gaza’s future. But it has quickly faced challenges to its implementation.

Israel said on Sunday that two of its soldiers died in clashes in the city of Rafah.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and opened fire on IDF (Israeli army) forces,” in Rafah, the military said in a statement. “The IDF responded with air strikes by fighter jets and artillery fire, targeting the Rafah area.”

Palestinian witnesses told AFP clashes erupted in the southern city in an area still held by Israel.

One witness, a 38-year-old man who asked not to be named, said that Hamas had been fighting a local Palestinian gang known as Abu Shabab but the militants were “surprised by the presence of army tanks.”

“The air force conducted two strikes from the air,” he added.

Abdullah Abu Hasanin, 29, from Al?Bureij camp in central Gaza where Israel launched strikes, said: “The situation is as if the war has returned anew.

“We had hoped the agreement would hold, but the occupation respects nothing — not an agreement, not anything.”

He said he had rushed to the site of the bombing to help, adding: “The scene is indescribable. Blood has returned again.”

‘Security illusion’
AFP images from Bureij showed Palestinians running for cover from the strikes, as well as the dead and wounded arriving at Deir al-Balah hospital, accompanied by grieving relatives.

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hamas would “pay a heavy price for every shot and every breach of the ceasefire”, adding Israel’s response would “become increasingly severe.”

A statement from Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the ceasefire.

Israel, it said, “continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas’s armed wing insisted on Sunday that it had “no knowledge” of any clashes in Rafah.

On Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance called on Gulf Arab countries to establish a “security infrastructure” to ensure that Hamas disarmed — a key part of the peace deal.

Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called Yellow Line. That leaves them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders but not its main cities.

Bodies returned
Hamas in turn has released 20 surviving hostages and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.

Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the territory said.

Israel has linked the reopening of the Rafah crossing — the main gateway into Gaza — to the recovery of all of the deceased.

Hamas has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from under Gaza’s rubble.

Israel has killed at least 68,159 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

With AFP.

“Israel has received, through the Red Cross, the coffin of a missing hostage who was handed over to the [Israeli military] and Shin Bet forces inside the Gaza Strip,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.
The military and Shin Bet later confirmed the remains were back in Israel, and were being sent to “the National Institute for Forensic Medicine, where identification procedures will be carried out.”

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the group’s armed wing had handed over the captive’s remains to the Red Cross after receiving them from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades – the armed wing of the Marxist-Leninist movement the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

A statement from the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades said: “In fulfillment of our national responsibility, we… announce that we are handing over the body of one of the Zionist soldiers in implementation of the terms of the agreement.”

Prior to this handover, Hamas had returned 12 bodies of hostages to Israel, out of the 28 it had pledged to return as part of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

The attack happened on Friday evening when a tank shell was fired by Israeli forces at a civilian vehicle carrying the Abu Shaaban family in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s civil defense.

Seven children and three women were among those killed when the Israeli military fired on the vehicle as the family attempted to reach their home to inspect it, civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.

“They could have been warned or dealt with differently,” Basal said, adding that “what happened confirms that the occupation is still thirsty for blood, and insists on committing crimes against innocent civilians.”

The agency said in a separate statement that its teams have managed to recover the bodies of nine people so far, in coordination with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Meanwhile, the bodies of two children remain missing, as their remains were “scattered due to the intensity of the bombardment,” the group added.

Hamas condemned what it called a “massacre” and said the family was targeted without justification. The group called on United States President Donald Trump and mediators to pressure Israel to respect the ceasefire agreement.
In that attack, Israeli soldiers opened fire on people who crossed the so-called “yellow line”, the demarcation to which Israel’s military was supposed to pull back under the ceasefire terms.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza, said many Palestinians lack internet access and are unaware of where Israeli forces remain positioned along the so-called demarcation lines, putting families at risk.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has claimed that the yellow lines in Gaza will soon be marked out for clarity.

Israeli forces remain in control of approximately 53 percent of Gaza, Khoudary said.

As the exchange of captives for Palestinian prisoners under the provisions of the deal has continued, Israel has killed at least 38 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Media Office on Saturday, and heavily restricted the flow of desperately needed aid, including food and medical supplies.
Last week, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in the Shujayea neighbourhood, also in Gaza City.

Israel has continued to seal the Rafah crossing with Egypt and blocked other key border crossings, preventing large-scale aid deliveries into the famine-stricken enclave.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that the Rafah crossing will remain closed until further notice, shortly after the Palestinian Embassy in Egypt announced that it would reopen on Monday.

“The crossing’s opening will be considered based on the manner in which Hamas fullfills its part in returning the deceased hostages and implementing the agreed-upon framework,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

The United Nations warned this week that aid convoys are struggling to reach famine-hit areas, with 49 percent of people accessing less than six litres of drinking water per day – well below emergency standards.

The World Food Programme said it has brought an average of 560 tonnes of food daily into Gaza since the ceasefire began, far below what is needed to address widespread malnutrition and prevent famine.

Hamas has said it remains committed to the ceasefire terms, including returning the remains of Israeli captives still under Gaza’s rubble.

The Israeli military said late on Saturday that the Red Cross has received two coffins of dead Israeli captives and they were handed over to Israeli forces for identification.

Hamas handed over the body of another captive on Friday evening, bringing the total to 10 since the truce began. Hamas has increased efforts to recover all the bodies of the captives despite little excavating machinery to fulfil the terms of the ceasefire.

Israel has not allowed those machines into the enclave – where the bodies of thousands of Palestinians are believed to remain trapped under the debris – and has not yet permitted the entry of international experts to help retrieve the captives’ remains.
Reporting from Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said by blocking heavy equipment and machinery from entering, Israel is creating “a challenge for the residents of Gaza who are experienced and have the expertise to search and to dig out bodies from under the rubble” with that type of equipment.

Israel has also returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians whose identities remain unknown, bringing the total number of bodies received by Palestinian authorities under the terms of the ceasefire deal to 135.

Some of the returned bodies exhibit signs of torture, including hanging and rope marks, bound hands and feet, and gunfire at close range, according to health officials in Gaza.

By Al Jazeera Staff

Economists estimate the cost of rebuilding at tens of billions of dollars – far beyond the capacity of Gaza’s shattered economy.

What is behind the $20bn lifeline to Argentina?

Plus, the European Union invests $13bn in South Africa.

The Rafah border post is the only crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip: a strategic gateway to the outside world.

In 2007, Israel imposed an air, land, and sea blockade on Gaza.

Human Rights Watch says the closure of the Rafah crossing has devastated Gaza’s economy, contributed to the fragmentation of the Palestinian people, and enabled Israel’s system of apartheid – and that was long before Israel’s devastating war.

And despite the United States-brokered ceasefire, Israel has threatened to keep the crossing shut because of delays in returning the remains of its captives.

So, if and when the crossing reopens, how will it operate and who will be in charge?

Presenter: Dareen Abughaida

Guests:

Mustafa Barghouti – Secretary-General at the Palestinian National Initiative

Tahani Mustafa – Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

Rob Geist Pinfold – Lecturer of International Security at King’s College London

By Inside Story

They were sent back to Gaza with numbers instead of their names, leaving family members of missing Palestinians to pore desperately through pictures of the bodies, hoping to spot their loved ones.
One thing is clear from the marks left on these bodies, and the blindfolds and handcuffs still on some of them: They had been tortured before their deaths, possibly executed.

The torture was confirmed by Palestinian detainees released alive by Israel as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal that has also seen the release of Israeli captives from Gaza.

Reports that Israel tortures Palestinian detainees in its jails have been common for years, and have increased since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, with some Israeli politicians even defending the practice.

At least 75 Palestinian detainees have also died in Israeli jails since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations.

One particularly notable documented incident of abuse was the gang rape of a Palestinian prisoner by guards at the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility in Israel last year. Verified video shows Israeli prison guards using their shields to hide from the camera before proceeding to rape the victim, who was left unable to walk, Israeli media reported.
Abuse visible on dead bodies
The condition of the bodies Israel returned to Gaza is harrowing.

The forensic teams who examined them said the bodies showed signs of physical abuse, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

“Crimes that cannot be hidden … This is how the bodies of Gaza’s prisoners were returned – blindfolded, bound like animals, and bearing signs of severe torture and burning,” Dr Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Health Ministry, wrote on social media.

“They did not die naturally – they were executed while restrained, a war crime demanding an urgent international investigation and accountability for the perpetrators.”

Images of the bodies back up much of what al-Bursh said, with experts saying that they showed signs of abuse.

Sameh Hamad, part of a commission that received the bodies at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, said that one of the bodies even had a rope around his neck.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Raed Mohammad Amer, of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, said his organisation found that Israel had executed dozens of Palestinians. Israel has promised investigations in some cases, but many remain open.

Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department for Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said his organisation was “not surprised” at the condition of the bodies released.

“We have recorded hundreds of instances of torture and deaths in the Israeli prison system, dozens of Palestinians who have been killed, beaten to death, or have died after being refused treatment for months,” Abbas said.

One autopsy the organisation examined showed signs of violence on the body eight months after the person died, he added.

“These are documented cases of detainees’ bodies with clear signs of torture and of having been brutally restrained before death, and still it is not on every television and in every newspaper,” Abbas said.

Al Jazeera reached out to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which coordinates the transfer of Palestinian and Israeli detainees, for comment.

The ICRC did not comment on the condition of the bodies, but said the focus of its staff was “the dignified transfer of remains of the deceased”.

The Israeli military and prison service did not respond to a request for comment.
Detainees say they were tortured, abused
Nearly 2,000 Palestinians from both Gaza and the occupied West Bank were released by Israel this week as part of the ceasefire deal.

Many of them had been taken by Israel in large roundups, leaving behind families who weren’t sure if their loved one had been killed or was disappeared by Israel.
Without news of their missing loved ones since their disappearance, the family members were shocked by their appearances and the stories they told.

Some people were so injured and weak, they were taken straight from the transport to a hospital for medical treatment.

One released detainee, Mahmoud Abu Foul, said Israeli torture had led to him losing his eyesight. Abu Foul told Al Jazeera he lost his eyesight after one beating left him unconscious for hours.

Many detainees emerged emaciated or with visible bruises.

One freed detainee, Kamal Abu Shanab, said his weight had dropped from 127 to 68 kilogrammes. His niece, Farah, cried as she saw him, saying he was unrecognisable.

Another freed detainee, Salem Eid, said he can’t lie on his back due to the beatings and has to sleep sitting up.

There have been reports of abuse in Israeli prisons for years.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem said in a report last August the Israeli prison system was a “network of torture camps” with “frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation; deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep deprivation; prohibition on, and punitive measures for, religious worship; confiscation of all communal and personal belongings; and denial of adequate medical treatment”.

Then there is the psychological torture. One man released this week said he was told by Israeli soldiers that his family was dead, only to find them alive, and another who had prepared a bracelet for his two-year-old daughter, only to discover that she, along with his wife and other children, had been killed by Israel.
Targeting Barghouti
There are still about 9,000 Palestinian detainees still in Israeli jails – one of the most prominent is Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, who Israel refuses to release.

Barghouti was found guilty by Israel in 2004 of being responsible for attacks against Israelis and is serving several life sentences.

He refuses to accept the jurisdiction of the Israeli court system and endorses nonviolent resistance, as well as a two-state solution.

Polls regularly find Barghouti to be the most popular Palestinian leader, and he has often been compared to the anti-apartheid leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Barghouti’s son, Arab, told Al Jazeera this week that Israel has singled his father out for exceptionally harsh treatment, including a beating by guards in mid-September that left him unconscious.

One released prisoner, Mohammad al-Ardah, said that Israeli forces had broken Barghouti’s ribs in three places.

Israel has denied the mistreatment of Barghouti and other Palestinian prisoners, but has not substantiated that defence with evidence.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appeared in an August video shouting at and threatening Barghouti. He is the man in charge of Israel’s prison service.

Arab Barghouti said Ben-Gvir showed his father an electric chair and told him it was his fate.

Ben-Gvir has taken pride in the treatment of Palestinian prisoners under his watch, and defended soldiers alleged to have abused the detainees, saying that “summer camps and patience for the terrorists are over”.

By Abubakr Al-Shamahi and Simon Speakman Cordall

For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.

“Israel’s new ground offensive in Gaza City is horrific. It worsens the humanitarian crisis and jeopardizes the release of the hostages. The Government of Israel must adhere to international law,” Canada’s Foreign Policy office said in a post on X.

It added that Canada stands with international partners in demanding “an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian aid and the release of all hostages.”

The renewed offensive comes as international pressure mounts on Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza, where months of conflict have left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, displaced millions, and pushed the enclave to the brink of famine.

On Tuesday, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had incited these acts.

It cites examples of the scale of the killings, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic to back up its genocide finding, adding its voice to rights groups and others that have reached the same conclusion.

Canada’s latest statement marks one of its strongest criticisms of Israel since the war began, underscoring growing concern among Western allies over the escalating violence and its impact on civilians.

Witnesses reported heavy bombardment in Gaza’s largest urban center, as Israel Katz warned the military was tightening its encirclement of the city.

For the latest updates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, visit our dedicated page.

“This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south and leave Hamas operatives isolated in Gaza City,” Katz posted on X, adding that those who remained would “be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters.”

Katz said the military had captured the Netzarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip through to the western coast, a move he said cut the north of Gaza off form the south.

He added anyone leaving Gaza City for the south would have to pass through Israeli military checkpoints.

The announcement came hours after the military said it was closing the last remaining route for residents of southern Gaza to access the north.

On the ground in Gaza City, 60-year-old Rabah al-Halabi, who lives in a tent on the premises of Al-Shifa Hospital, described relentless explosions.

“I will not leave because the situation in Gaza City is no different from the situation in the southern Gaza Strip,” he told AFP by telephone.

“All areas are dangerous, the bombing is everywhere, and displacement is terrifying and humiliating,” he said.

“We are waiting for death, or perhaps relief from God and for the truce to come.”

‘Ceasefire at any cost’

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday said that intensified military operations in Gaza City had forced it to temporarily suspend its activities there, warning that “tens of thousands… face harrowing humanitarian conditions.”

It came days after medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had been forced to suspend its work there because of Israel’s offensive.

UN agencies and some aid organizations still operate in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Hamas mulled a peace plan put forward by Trump and backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

A Palestinian source close to Hamas’s leaders told AFP that “no final decision” had been made and that “the movement will likely need two to three days.”

“Hamas wants to amend some of the items such as the disarmament clause and the expulsion of Hamas,” the source said.

They added that Hamas had informed mediators of the “need to provide international guarantees for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and guarantees that Israel will not violate a ceasefire through assassinations inside or outside Gaza.”

Gaza’s civil defense agency reported that Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people in Gaza City on Wednesday.

When asked by AFP, the Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swathes of the territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense and the Israeli military.

Fadel al-Jadba, 26, said he would not leave Gaza City.

He said tanks were in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood and that he “would not be surprised if they advance into Al-Rimal,” where he was sheltering.

“We want a ceasefire at any cost because we are frustrated, exhausted, and find no one in the world standing with us.”

‘Two opinions’ in Hamas

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Hamas had “about three or four days” to accept his 20-point Gaza plan, later warning that the movement would “pay in hell” if it refused.

A source familiar with negotiations taking place in the Qatari capital Doha told AFP that “two opinions exist within Hamas.”

“The first supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan,” the source said.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses, rejecting disarmament and the expulsion of any Palestinian from Gaza. They favor conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,148 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

These figures do not specify the number of fighters killed, but indicate that more than half of the dead are women and children.