Hamas leader accuses Israel of repeatedly violating Gaza ceasefire deal

By Abdulsalam Fayez and Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) – A Hamas leader accused Israel on Tuesday of repeatedly violating a Gaza ceasefire agreement and killing around 400 Palestinians since the truce.

In a statement, Ghazi Hamad said the Israeli army has committed 813 violations of the ceasefire deal since Oct. 10, calling the situation “extremely dangerous.”

Hamad said nearly 400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and 991 others injured, including 334 children and 210 women, in Israeli attacks since the ceasefire.

The Israeli violations include “killings, executions, shooting civilians, bombardment, targeted attacks, and targeted assassinations, as well as clear breaches related to humanitarian aid,” he added.

Hamad said Hamas has submitted detailed daily reports documenting the Israeli violations to mediators, warning that the Israeli breaches pose a serious threat to the agreement.

Israel “has no right to target resistance members during a ceasefire,” he said, accusing Tel Aviv of “repeatedly fabricating pretexts such as alleged explosives or gunfire without evidence,” which he said mediators know to be false.

He also said that Israel expanded its “fire control zones” across Gaza, reaching 700–1,000 meters in the north, about 1,300 meters in Gaza City, 1,150 meters in central areas, 1,100 meters in Khan Younis, and around 1,000 meters in Rafah.

Israel currently occupies more than half of the Gaza Strip and continues to target Palestinians in other areas outside its control, according to Palestinian authorities.

Israel has killed nearly 70,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,000 in Gaza since October 2023, and reduced the enclave to rubble.