Updated October 19, 2025 at 3:00 PM PDT
Israel's government said Sunday it struck "dozens of Hamas terror targets" across Gaza in response to earlier attacks against its troops by Hamas militants in southern Gaza, a sudden escalation of violence that threatened to derail a fragile ceasefire that's been in effect for less than a week.
Hamas responded that it was not involved in any attacks and was committed to the ceasefire.
Israel's military said Sunday that "terrorists" had attacked Israeli troops operating in the Rafah area with gunfire and an anti-tank missile.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "directed that strong action be taken against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip," his office said in a post on X.
Israel's military said it struck the area to respond to the attacks and also to dismantle tunnel shafts and other structures used by Hamas, calling the violence against its troops a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement." The military later said that the strikes had targeted "weapons storage facilities, firing posts, terrorist cells and additional Hamas terror infrastructure."
Hamas said in a statement that it had been cut off from its remaining groups in the Rafah area and was "unaware" of any violence taking place there, and added that it remained fully committed to the ceasefire agreement, the BBC reported.
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq also accused Israel in a statement on Sunday of "violating the deal and fabricating pretexts to justify its crimes."
Hamas has been carrying out a deadly crackdown against rival militias and clans in Gaza, but it's unclear if Sunday's violence was connected to that. The U.S. State Department said Saturday that it had "credible reports" that Hamas was planning an attack against Palestinian civilians that would violate the terms of the ceasefire.
Israel's military said after the back-and-forth attacks on Sunday that it was resuming "enforcement" of the ceasefire.
The Associated Press reported that Israel had halted aid into Gaza following the attacks, but later decided to resume deliveries on Monday. Netanyahu said in a statement that two Israeli soldiers — Maj. Yaniv Kula and Staff-Sgt. Itay Ya'avetz — were killed in the clashes.
One day earlier, an Israeli attack on a bus in Gaza City killed a family of 11 people returning to visit their ruined home, according to Gaza health authorities. The family included seven children, the youngest of whom was 5 years old.
Israeli forces said the bus was beyond the yellow line Gazans have been warned not to cross, and that troops faced an "imminent threat" before firing a tank shell at the vehicle.
Gaza's media office has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement 80 times since it took effect, Al Jazeera reported.
The ceasefire agreement brokered by the U.S. included the release of all of the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks more than two years ago. In exchange, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has also returned the bodies of some Israeli hostages who died in Gaza. Israeli officials identified the bodies of two hostages returned from Gaza late Saturday as Ronen Engel and Sontaya Oakkharasri. Engel, 54 when he died, was killed while trying to protect his family during the Oct. 7 attacks. His wife and daughters were freed by Hamas that November. Oakkharasri was a Thai national who was also killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Sixteen deceased Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, according to Israel's government.
The Israeli government says 1,144 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks led by Hamas in 2023. In the two-year war that began in the wake of those attacks, Israeli forces have killed more than 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
NPR's Rob Schmitz and Jane Arraf contributed reporting.
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