Israel says it will honour ceasefire as airstrikes kill over 100 in Gaza

Israel on Wednesday said it remained committed to a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, even as health officials in the territory reported more than 100 deaths from Israeli airstrikes, the latest blow to an already fragile truce.

According to the Israeli military, air raids were launched late on Tuesday after an alleged Palestinian militant attack killed an Israeli soldier. “The Israel Defense Forces will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation,” the military said in a statement.

The announcement came as US President Donald Trump sought to downplay concerns that the US-brokered ceasefire was collapsing. “As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “So the Israelis hit back and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.”

“Nothing is going to jeopardise” the ceasefire, Trump added. “You have to understand Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East, and they have to behave.”

The Gaza health ministry said 104 people, including 46 children and 20 women, had been killed in the latest strikes. A Reuters report on the strikes could not immediately verify the figures, though Reuters video footage from inside a Gaza hospital showed several bodies, including those of women and children, being prepared for burial.

The ceasefire agreement, which took effect on 10 October, was intended to end two years of devastating conflict that began after Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.

US President Donald Trump insists that the Washington-brokered ceasefire in Gaza is holding, despite Israeli forces killing more than 100 Palestinians, including 46 children.

🔗: https://t.co/gNtKpJfw7m pic.twitter.com/nmPIZwZ68h

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 29, 2025

Gaza ceasefire going up in smoke as Israel resumes ‘powerful strikes’, killing 33 kids

Under the deal, Hamas agreed to release all surviving hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees, while Israel withdrew its troops and suspended military operations.

Tensions flared again this week as both sides accused each other of violating the accord. An Israeli military official said Hamas fighters attacked Israeli forces stationed along the so-called 'yellow line', the deployment zone defined in the truce. Hamas denied responsibility for the incident in Rafah, southern Gaza, and said it “remained committed to the ceasefire deal”.

Speaking to Reuters via a messaging app, displaced Gazan resident Ismail Zayda (40) described the fear that gripped families overnight. “It was one of the worst nights since the ceasefire was signed. The sounds of explosions and planes made us feel as if war had started again,” said Zayda, who lives in a tent camp in western Gaza City with 25 relatives.

The ceasefire has been further strained by disputes over the return of hostages’ remains. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said human remains handed over by Hamas belonged to an Israeli killed in the 7 October attacks.

The Israeli military later accused Hamas of staging the recovery, claiming that the group had planted the remains at an excavation site before alerting the Red Cross.

Israel has killed 150 People in Gaza during the 16 days of the "Ceasefire"

How is this a ceasefire? https://t.co/oGJXQq6lid pic.twitter.com/zbVHVxBOT0

— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) October 27, 2025

No chance Gaza peace plan will last

A 14-minute video released by the military appeared to show three men placing a white bag at a dig site and covering it with earth. Reuters independently confirmed the location of the footage but said it could not verify the date or the Israeli account of what the video depicted. Hamas did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team had not been informed that the remains were planted before arrival. “It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones,” the ICRC said in a statement.

Despite the rising tension, Trump maintained that the ceasefire would hold, calling it a “strong deal” backed by both Washington and regional mediators. However, Reuters reported that many displaced Palestinians fear the truce could unravel completely if the current cycle of violence continues.

For now, both Israel and Hamas insist they remain bound by the agreement, but each accuses the other of testing its limits — a sign, analysts say, that the truce remains perilously close to collapse.

With agency inputs