JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip this week marked the most serious challenge yet for a fragile, U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Over 100 Palestinians were killed, including dozens of civilians, according to Gaza health officials. One Israeli soldier was killed in an attack that helped prompt the fierce Israeli strikes.
But by early Wednesday, the ceasefire had been restored almost as quickly as it had unraveled. President Donald
Trump defended Israel’s actions but also made it clear that the U.S. expects the broader ceasefire, which began Oct. 10, to hold.
The chain of events underscored the fragility of the truce between Israel and Hamas after two years of war, but also showed how intent the U.S. is on keeping it going.
Here are some takeaways from the tense two-day standoff.
Trump has staked his personal reputation on the success of this deal and poured diplomatic and military resources into making sure it succeeds.
Trump himself flew to the region to usher in the agreement, visiting Israel and then meeting with key Arab and other international leaders in Egypt.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and two senior advisers — White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kusher — have all visited Israel in recent days in a sign of the high priority the U.S. places on the deal. The U.S. is also leading a new international effort meant to coordinate aid shipments into Gaza and to strengthen the agreement.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump defended Israel’s actions, saying it “should hit back” when its troops come under attack.
Yet he also signaled that he will keep Israel in check, saying he is confident the ceasefire will stick.
Vance also tried to play down the violence, saying Tuesday that “the ceasefire is holding.“
“That’s doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there,” he said.
The Israeli military has a long history of tough responses to enemy attacks, and Tuesday night’s airstrikes were no exception.
Israel said it struck dozens of Hamas militants and military sites. Palestinian health officials said that scores of women and children, including a 1-year-old, were killed in the attacks.
Israel’s five wars against Hamas, along with recent conflicts with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group and Hamas, have all been characterized by lopsided death tolls with large numbers of civilian deaths.
During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran earlier this year, for instance, Iran said over 1,000 Iranians were killed. Israel’s government said around 30 Israelis lost their lives in Iranian missile attacks.
Israel says it complies with international law and only strikes only military targets, while accusing its enemies of using civilians as human shields. But human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israel of using disproportionate force.
Since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, Israel has said the Islamic militant group is responsible for all violence emanating from the territory.
That still appears to be the case, even when Hamas denies involvement, as it did in Tuesday’s shooting of the Israeli soldier in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Increasing the likelihood of further fighting, Netanyahu also faces intense pressure from hard-liners to issue a punishing response to any perceived violation of the truce.
With Israeli critics and media accusing Netanyahu of caving to American pressure, the Israeli leader also has been eager to assert his independence. Vance and other Israeli officials have rejected suggestions that they are controlling Israeli actions.
After it announced the restoration of the ceasefire, the Israeli military said Wednesday it carried out another airstrike in northern Gaza, targeting what it called a site where weapons were being stored for an imminent attack. Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received two bodies from the strike.
Trump has presented a 20-point plan for the ceasefire, beginning with the exchange of hostages, both dead and alive, for living and deceased Palestinian prisoners.
The details of the next phase of the deal — disarming Hamas, installing a new government in Gaza and deploying an international security force -- are yet to be hammered out.
For now, the sides remain stuck in phase one. One of the triggers of Tuesday’s violence was Hamas’ failure to return the remains of a dead hostage, as it had promised.
Instead, it returned some body parts belonging to a hostage whose remains had been recovered by Israel in late 2023. Israeli officials also accused Hamas of staging the discovery of hostage remains on Monday, sharing a 14-minute, edited video from a military drone in Gaza.
With mistrust running deep, and the remains of 13 dead hostages still in Gaza, the potential for additional bursts of violence appears to remain high.
