A series of ceasefire violations in the Gaza Strip is testing the fragile truce and raising questions about U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. In the past 24 hours, an Alexandroni Brigade reserve officer was seriously wounded, prompting Israeli airstrikes on multiple targets in Gaza, including the commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s northern brigade.
Despite the flare-up, officials in Washington downplayed the incidents, calling them anticipated setbacks. “We are not in a crisis,” a source from Trump’s Board of Peace told ynet. “Every day brings challenges, but this was expected — nothing dramatic.”
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Trump: 'There are challenges, but no crisis'
(Photos: Alex Brandon/AP, Jehad Alshrafi/AP)
Earlier Thursday, ynet correspondent Yoav Zitun reported growing signs of renewed fighting with Hamas. As first revealed by ynet and its parent newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth last month, the IDF is taking concrete steps to prepare for that scenario—one in which military operations may become a long-term reality aimed at dismantling a resurgent Hamas.
The planning is based on a sober assessment that Hamas is unlikely to voluntarily disarm or allow the destruction of its tunnel network. These preparations are in line with understandings reached with the United States, under which Israel would be permitted to act if Hamas fails to disarm. Defense officials have made clear that such action would be carried out by the IDF—not by the International Stabilization Force (ISF), which has yet to materialize.
Amid ceasefire violations and IDF retaliatory strikes in Gaza, one development this week raised questions about the future governance of the territory. A modified logo for the new technocratic body—the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza—briefly included the emblem of the Palestinian Authority, contradicting Israel’s repeated claim that the PA will play no role in ruling Gaza.
The Prime Minister’s Office responded with a sharp statement, declaring that “the Palestinian Authority will have no part in the administration of Gaza.” The next day, the committee said the logo was provisional and part of a broader design review. Official branding, it added, will be unveiled when the committee's website goes live. “Our focus is aid — with real security for everyone, in line with the Trump plan. That is the important discourse,” the committee said.
The step that did not happen
The gunfire that wounded the reserve officer overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday occurred under cover of darkness. An Alexandroni Brigade force was securing work to reinforce the Yellow Line in the Daraj Tuffah neighborhood when it encountered two terrorists lying in ambush. The terrorists opened fire and seriously wounded a company commander. The forces responded with mortar fire, tank fire and airstrikes on a series of preplanned targets in the area, but the terrorists apparently managed to escape. The IDF said such incidents are routine on Hamas’ part.
In response to the shooting, Israel chose to strike targets in Gaza, but did not take another step: closing the Rafah crossing. It continued operating as usual, with Palestinians reporting daily that people are exiting through it to Egypt and also returning to the Strip.
Even so, despite the sequence of incidents that could be interpreted as the collapse of the 20-point plan, Board of Peace officials dismissed the claims and said the plan is continuing as usual. “We are not in a crisis at all. Every day brings challenges, but nothing has stopped. The plan continues. We wake up every day to chaos and problems, and it was clear this would happen — but there is nothing dramatic and we are moving forward. There are Peace Board discussions in the U.S.; they are meeting and talking,” the sources said. “It’s progressing. Not without problems, but these are problems we anticipated.”
According to the sources, the disarmament process will not begin before March, meaning Hamas still has time to fulfill its commitment to disarm. The American message, they said, is that they are not naive and understand they will need unequivocal intelligence proof that Hamas is not deceiving everyone. Hamas has agreed to disarm, they said — and if it does not, it will be disarmed by force.
Meanwhile, those maintaining an almost deafening silence amid the developments in Gaza are ministers and cabinet members Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Smotrich, who promised last May — nine months ago — that “within half a year there will be no Hamas,” did say Wednesday that Hamas would be presented with an ultimatum, declaring: “We are committed to the mission of achieving the central goal of the war — destroying Hamas — and not stopping for a single minute before that. Anyone who does to us what these Nazis did will be destroyed; you will see it in the coming days. Anyone who thinks Hamas will disarm itself, I have a house on the moon to sell him.”
A senior Israeli official said that “patience is needed. We are not seeing progress or movement from Hamas. As we said, if Hamas’ disarmament proceeds smoothly, that is preferable. But if not, it will be disarmed by force.”