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Israel says it will uphold Gaza ceasefire after overnight strikes kill 104 people

Apart from the attack on IDF troops, Israel also accused Hamas of not fulfilling its obligation under the ceasefire deal to hand over the remains of all dead hostages.

express web desk

By: Express Web Desk

October 29, 2025 10:56 PM IST First published on: Oct 29, 2025 at 10:56 PM IST
Israel says it will uphold Gaza ceasefire after overnight strikes kill 104 peoplePalestinians inspect the rubble of the Abu Dalal family home, destroyed by an Israeli army strike in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israel on Wednesday said its military will abide by the ceasefire accord in Gaza, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered powerful attacks on the Palestinian enclave, accusing Hamas of violating the terms of the truce. In a statement, the IDF said it will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it.

IDF reservist killed in Rafah attack

The de-escalation came a day after Israel launched airstrikes in Gaza late on Tuesday, after IDF troops came under an attack in Rafah, allegedly by Hamas, a charge the militant group has denied.

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Israel says it will uphold Gaza ceasefire after overnight strikes kill 104 people
Israeli soldiers work on tanks at a staging area on the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

According to Israel, a reservist soldier, Yona Efraim Feldbaum, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Neria, was killed in the attack against troops stationed in the Rafah area within the so-called “yellow line”, the deployment line agreed upon in the ceasefire on Tuesday.

Israel strikes across Gaza

In retaliation, the IDF said it carried out a series of strikes, in which dozens of terror targets and terrorists were struck.

Israel says it will uphold Gaza ceasefire after overnight strikes kill 104 people
An Israeli army flare drifts over an area in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. (Photo: AP)

“As part of the strikes, the IDF and ISA struck 30 terrorists holding command positions within the terrorist organizations operating in Gaza,” the IDF said.

Hamas staged recovery: Israel

Apart from the attack on IDF troops, Israel also accused Hamas of not fulfilling its obligation under the ceasefire deal to hand over the remains of all dead hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said human remains handed over on Monday night belonged to an Israeli killed during Hamas’s October 7 attack, whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in the early weeks of fighting.

The Israeli military said that Hamas had planted the remains at an excavation site before calling in a Red Cross team and pretending it had found a missing hostage, to create a “false impression of efforts to locate bodies”.

Israel says it will uphold Gaza ceasefire after overnight strikes kill 104 people
Hamas militants carry a white bag believed to contain a body, retrieved from a tunnel during a search for the remains of hostages in Hamad City, Khan Younis, southern Gaza. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A 14-minute video published by the military showed three men placing a white bag at an excavation site and then covering it with earth and rocks.

The ICRC said its team was unaware that the remains had been planted at the site before their 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.

104 killed in Gaza

Meanwhile, authorities in Gaza said a total of 104 people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes since late Tuesday.

The Gaza health ministry said that 46 children and 20 women were among those killed.

This was the deadliest escalation since the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect on October 10, ending more than two years of war.

Ceasefire not at risk: Trump

US President Donald Trump, who played a key role in making the ceasefire happen, said the truce was not at risk due to the Israeli strikes.

“As I understand it, they took out an Israeli soldier,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday. “So the Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back,” he added.

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

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