Israel's attacks on Gaza, which have been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023, after two years, with more than 67,000 Palestinians killed and a major genocide committed, ended on Oct. 10 – at least for now – after the parties accepted the Gaza cease-fire plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The grand signing ceremony held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13 not only allowed Trump to showcase himself as a peacemaker, but also elevated the cease-fire plan to an international level by having it signed by the guarantor countries in the presence of more than 35 heads of state.
However, as might be expected, Israel continued its attacks at various points from the first day of the cease-fire, despite its commitments to halt all attacks and withdraw its troops behind the designated line, and continued to prevent the promised humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. Although Israel tried to justify these actions, which constitute a violation of the cease-fire agreement, on various grounds, it is known that its real intention was to resume attacks after taking back hostages from Hamas. Despite this, it is evident that Hamas made intensive efforts to maintain the cease-fire.
Therefore, it is crucial to reveal what Israel's moves aimed at sabotaging the cease-fire process and returning to attacks are, how these moves are justified by Israel and how Hamas is fighting back against them.
To demonstrate this, I want to share the general framework of Trump's cease-fire plan first. After revealing the claims Israel has put forward to break the cease-fire, I will explain how it violated the cease-fire, and then I will shortly mention likely developments that may occur.
Once Trump's 20-point cease-fire plan came into effect, Israel would end all attacks and its army would withdraw to the agreed-upon "yellow line" on the Gaza map. Hamas would release 20 live hostages in its custody, and in return, approximately 1,700 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be released. At the same time, humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza and distributed to those in need by the Red Cross, U.N. agencies and some international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Gazans would also be able to return to their homes and those who had left Gaza would be able to return if they wished. In other words, the people of Gaza would not have to leave their land.
Seventy-two hours after the cease-fire began, Hamas would hand over the bodies of dead Israeli hostages in Gaza and Israel would, in turn, hand over the bodies of Palestinians it was holding.
After the completion of the hostage exchanges, which constitute the first phase of the cease-fire plan, a temporary administration comprising guarantor countries and other countries deemed appropriate will be established to manage the transition in Gaza. A task force will be established by the same actors to ensure security and the proper conditions will be provided for Hamas to lay down its arms. The provisional administration and task force to be established would manage the reconstruction process in Gaza. Upon completion of these operations, the administration would be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, which does not include Hamas. Hamas would also hand over its weapons to this administration and those who wish to do so would leave the country or remain in Gaza and transition to civilian life.
However, the plan and the letter of intent signed in Sharm el-Sheikh did not specify a definitive timetable, roadmap or control mechanism for the period following the first phase of the plan; nor was it clarified what sanctions would be imposed if the parties violated the cease-fire or how they would be compelled to comply with the cease-fire conditions. In fact, it was stated that the second phase of the cease-fire would be negotiated upon completion of the first phase and that the roadmap would be determined based on the outcome.
The first so-called reason Israel cited for violating the cease-fire and resuming attacks was that Hamas did not deliver the bodies of the dead hostages within the timeframe specified in the agreement, that some of the bodies delivered were not intact and that some bodies did not belong to Israeli hostages.
Hamas has been very self-sacrificing in this regard, despite all the difficulties, to prevent the cease-fire from breaking down and has handed over all the bodies of dead hostages it could reach to the Red Cross. However, because Gaza has been heavily bombed by Israel, it has requested assistance in this regard, stating that the remaining hostage bodies are trapped under the rubble and that it does not have sufficient machinery to extract them.
Israel, on the one hand, continues its attacks, claiming that Hamas is not complying with the cease-fire because it did not return the bodies of the dead hostages on time. On the other hand, it has blocked the entry of construction equipment needed by Hamas and opposed the opening of border crossings, particularly in Rafah, thereby blocking the entry of humanitarian aid. Therefore, it is Israel, not Hamas, that has violated the cease-fire.
Despite all these difficulties, Hamas has so far recovered the bodies of 17 of the 28 dead hostages said to be held in Gaza from the rubble and handed them over, and efforts to recover the remaining 11 hostages are continuing. With the involvement of the U.S., the process has been accelerated by the entry of construction machinery sent from Egypt and Türkiye into Gaza to participate in the rubble removal efforts, thereby refuting Israel's claims that Hamas is not complying with the cease-fire.
The second reason Israel cited for breaking the cease-fire was Hamas' failure to lay down its arms, as stipulated in the agreement. However, with the cease-fire coming into effect, Hamas had deployed its internal security units to restore order in Gaza and ensure the safe distribution of humanitarian aid. The first action taken by these units was to fight against Daesh remnant gangs such as Abu Shabab, which Israel had armed and supported.
Therefore, Hamas's fight against these terrorist gangs for the safety of the people of Gaza greatly disturbed Israel, which continued its attacks by claiming that Hamas had violated the cease-fire agreement to protect the gangs it had armed.
Nevertheless, even Trump has stated that Hamas' fight against these gangs is natural and that Hamas should be given some time in this regard. However, when footage emerged showing Hamas executing some gang members, Israel said it would not allow this and demanded that Hamas lay down its arms immediately, otherwise it would resume attacks. However, it faced a harsh reaction from the U.S. side and, despite some isolated attacks, did not dare to launch an all-out attack that would destroy the cease-fire.
Israel's shooting at Palestinians trying to return to their homes the day after the cease-fire went into effect, killing some of them, came as no surprise to those who know and follow Israel. This is because it was known that once Israel had taken the hostages held by Hamas, there would be no obstacle to its attack on Gaza. It was therefore predicted that Israel would not abide by this cease-fire and would find an excuse to break it.
Indeed, statements have been made by both Israel's ruling and opposition parties regarding the resumption of attacks, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in particular, using harsh words on the matter and threatening to leave the government if Netanyahu continues the cease-fire.
Despite this, Netanyahu was unable to formally violate the cease-fire by taking action, even though isolated attacks continued until Oct. 28, due to Trump personally guaranteeing the cease-fire and his desire to turn the Gaza cease-fire into a regional peace plan. However, while Trump was on his trip to Asia, the death of an Israeli soldier in a false flag attack in Rafah provided Netanyahu with the excuse he had been waiting for. Netanyahu immediately convened his Security Cabinet, and following the meeting, ordered an immediate and powerful attack on Gaza.
Immediately following this decision, the Israeli army launched attacks on nearly all areas of Gaza, seeking to avenge the death of its soldier. Palestinian sources in the region who shared information about the attack stated that the Israeli army's real goal was to eliminate Hamas' leadership in the area, but that over a hundred Palestinians were killed in the process.
However, the U.S. administration has accepted Israel's attack on Gaza as legitimate self-defense, despite its violation of the cease-fire, and has stated that the cease-fire has not been broken and is still in effect. Following the U.S. statement, the Israeli government also announced that it had returned to the terms of the cease-fire and halted its attacks. Hamas, meanwhile, stated that it had remained committed to the cease-fire throughout this entire process, declared that Israel was the party that had broken the cease-fire and demanded that the guarantor countries stop Israel.
It was widely known that the Israeli government intended to break the cease-fire and resume attacks after taking the hostages held by Hamas. To make this possible, Israel first used the failure to deliver the bodies of dead hostages held by Hamas as an excuse, and then made an issue of Hamas not laying down its arms and conducting operations against gangs in Gaza.
However, due to Trump's firm stance on continuing the cease-fire, Israel, whose lies were not accepted, used the killing of one of its soldiers in an attack in Rafah, which was labeled a false flag operation because it was not known who carried it out, as a pretext to launch a major attack on Gaza on Oct. 28 under the guise of so-called legitimate self-defense.
Hamas complied with the cease-fire terms by releasing the hostages it was holding and handing over all the bodies of dead hostages it could reach once the cease-fire came into effect. However, despite the cease-fire coming into effect, Israel violated the cease-fire by failing to open the promised border crossings and refusing to allow humanitarian aid to enter.
Despite all these events, the U.S. administration, while publicly stating that Israel has the right to self-defense, has strongly warned Israel not to take any steps that would violate the cease-fire, stating that otherwise, support for Israel would be cut off.
As a result, the U.S. administration, which did not believe Israel's fabricated lies about breaking the cease-fire, announced to the world public that the cease-fire was still in effect despite the violation caused by the attack on Oct. 28, thus not allowing its own plan to be disrupted.
Negotiations on the second phase of the cease-fire plan are currently ongoing, and it is anticipated that Israel will seek to violate the cease-fire during this process as well. However, it is believed that Trump will not give credence to Israel's lies and, as a guarantor country, will not turn a blind eye to its violations. He will therefore remain faithful to the agreement he signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, continue the Gaza cease-fire, and strive to turn this process into regional peace.
