Israel on Sunday launched its heaviest wave of attacks on Gaza since a fragile cease-fire took hold a week ago and said it was temporarily suspending humanitarian aid to the territory after accusing Hamas of firing on its forces and violating the truce.
The aid was halted because of the intensity of the Israeli strikes, and was expected to resume once the bombing was over, according to an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. Israeli officials had initially said that humanitarian aid would be suspended until further notice, but later appeared to step back from that decision.
Israel said two of its soldiers were killed on Sunday when Palestinian militants attacked forces who were operating in an area where the Israeli military is allowed to be under the cease-fire agreement. The deaths prompted a strong response.
Gaza’s health ministry initially reported 14 Palestinian deaths across the territory on Sunday.
Both Israel and Hamas have now accused each other of violating the truce after repeated flare-ups of violence over the past three days. But both sides made clear on Sunday that they were still committed to maintaining the truce.
The Israeli military said the Palestinian fighters had fired an anti-tank missile at its troops and then shot at them in the Rafah area of southern Gaza that remains under Israeli control.
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