An Israeli soldier was killed on October 28 in an attack in Gaza, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded with “a series of significant strikes.” The strikes also came after Israel accused Hamas of breaking the ceasefire agreement by manipulating the return of the remains of a deceased hostage.
The October 28 incident was the second deadly attack on Israeli personnel since a ceasefire began in Gaza on October 13. An earlier attack on October 19 killed two IDF soldiers in southern Gaza. US officials have sought to maintain the truce, and US Vice President JD Vance and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have been in Israel over the past two weeks pushing for the process to continue.
According to reports on October 28, the Israeli soldier was killed in the Rafah area of southern Gaza. The IDF said in a statement that “in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of strikes, in which dozens of terror targets and terrorists were struck, the IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire in response to Hamas’ violations. As part of the strikes, the IDF and ISA struck over 30 terrorists holding command positions within the terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Hamas would pay a “heavy price.” He added that “the attack on IDF soldiers in Gaza today by the Hamas terror organization crosses a glaring red line to which the IDF will respond with great force.” Health authorities in Gaza, which operate under the control of Hamas, claimed that more than 100 people were killed in the Israeli military’s retaliatory strikes.
On the morning of October 29, the IDF elaborated on the targets hit in Gaza, specifying that they “included key terrorists, observation posts, weapons production warehouses, launch posts, underground tunnels, and mortar shell firing posts. In addition, the IDF conducted strike attempts targeting three terrorists at the rank of battalion commander, two terrorists at the rank of deputy battalion commander, and sixteen terrorists at the rank of company commander.” The IDF also said it targeted a Hamas Nukhba force member who had been involved in the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The strikes also took place amid Israeli claims that Hamas continues to violate the ceasefire. “On Monday night, Hamas handed over partial remains it claimed belonged to one of the 13 hostages whose bodies are still in Gaza, but were later discovered by Israel to belong to a hostage who was recovered by Israeli troops in December 2023,” The Times of Israel noted.
Drone footage also showed that Hamas sought to manipulate the return of the remains of the hostage. “Newly released drone footage from Gaza City shows Hamas terrorists staging the return of the remains of slain Israeli hostage Ofir Tzarfati, Israeli officials said Tuesday. The video, recorded Monday afternoon, captures the terrorists placing a white bag containing what appeared to be Tzarfati’s remains in a pit, covering it with sand, and summoning Red Cross representatives within minutes,” Ynet reported. “The lie here is blatant and cannot be ignored,” an Israeli official said. Israel has accused Hamas of stalling during the return of the deceased hostages. Israeli authorities believe Hamas can locate most of the 13 remaining hostages, all of whom are presumed deceased.
The search for the remains of hostages continued in Gaza between October 27 and 29, despite the tensions over the ceasefire. The search has been bolstered by foreign assistance. “Witnesses in Khan Younis said […] Egyptian teams, working with armed Hamas fighters, were digging deep near the Qatari-funded Hamad Housing City in the western side of Khan Younis, reaching tunnel shafts,” Arab News reported.
While the IDF airstrikes appeared to have ended by the morning of October 29, an Israeli official indicated that Israel could carry out additional responses due to violations of the ceasefire agreement.
