Following the episode, the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Givr, urged Netanyahu to resume the offensive against the Gaza Strip “with all his strength”.
Hamas claimed that the destruction of the excavator occurred during a crossfire between Israeli soldiers and the armed wing of the Palestinian group, which was in an operation to eliminate the leader of the rival militia, known as Popular Forces, Yasser Abu Shabab.
The United States warned on Saturday that it had “credible information” about an “imminent attack” by Hamas against Palestinian civilians, in a “clear violation” of the ceasefire.
This morning, the The Islamist group rejected the accusation and blamed Israel for arming and financing other militias, which, it said, carried out “murders, kidnappings, robberies of humanitarian aid trucks and robberies against civilians”.
The armed wing of Hamas assured that it is implementing the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip and assured that it is unaware of any clashes in Rafah, in the south of Palestinian territory.
“We reaffirm our full commitment to implementing everything that was agreed, starting with a ceasefire in all areas of the Gaza Strip,” said the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigadein a statement.
“We are not aware of any incidents or clashes occurring in the Rafah area, as these are red zones under the control of the ‘occupation’ [Israel]and contact with the rest of our groups has been interrupted since the resumption of the war in March”, he added.
This statement contradicts a statement released this morning by a Hamas security unit, Radea, one of the targets of the Israeli attack this Sunday.
According to this source, the Palestinian group was carrying out an operation in Rafah to eliminate the leader of the rival militia, known as ‘Popular Forces’, Yasser Abu Shabab.
However, Israeli soldiers intervened to support Shabab, which resulted in crossfire and caused an Israeli excavator to explode.
In its statement, this Hamas police unit assured that its The objective in Rafah was not to dye Israeli troops.
The ceasefire in Gaza – proposed by the United States and agreed between Israel and Hamas – began on October 10, providing for three phases: the release of hostages, the disarmament of Hamas and the gradual reconstruction of the territory, under international supervision.