(MENAFN) One week after US President Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome in Israel for brokering the Gaza ceasefire and facilitating the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, the truce has already faced a major challenge.

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a series of lethal strikes across Gaza after two soldiers were killed in Rafah in an attack attributed to Hamas. Hamas denied responsibility, stating it had not been in contact with fighters in the area since communications were cut off in March.

Following the attack, an Israeli security official announced a halt to aid deliveries. US pressure, however, ensured the ceasefire was maintained and Israel’s crossings with Gaza reopened on Monday. Mediators are expected to remain closely involved to stabilize the agreement and address long-term issues concerning Gaza and Hamas.

Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have returned to the region, while Hamas negotiators meet with Egyptian mediators and Palestinian factions in Cairo. Discussions are expected to focus on the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, which includes deploying an international stabilization force in Gaza, the eventual withdrawal of IDF forces, and the disarmament of Hamas.

The recent violence has deeply affected both Palestinians and Israelis. “From the start of the war I was with him 24 hours a day, I never left him,” bereaved father Shadi Abu Obeid told a news agency in Khan Younis, struggling to hold back tears at the funeral of his 14-year-old son Mohammed. “Because of the ceasefire I was a bit more relaxed, and I let him go out with his friends. It was quiet and there were meant to be international guarantees.”

Mohammed, along with two others, was killed in an Israeli strike on a tent in al-Mawasi. Hospitals reported at least 45 Palestinian fatalities after the IDF claimed it had hit “dozens of Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip.” Footage from various locations, however, showed civilian casualties, including children. Among those killed were members of Hamas’s armed wing, including a commander targeted at a makeshift café in central Gaza.

Trump’s envoys had been expected in Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to the escalation. Before leaving the US, they gave an interview, describing how they had bypassed traditional diplomatic channels to hold direct talks with Hamas leaders during ceasefire negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. They said this approach was intended to ensure hostilities would not resume after Israeli hostages were returned. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, said the president had been “very, very comfortable” with this method.

He added that Hamas appeared to be acting “in good faith” regarding the return of deceased hostages, a key sticking point with Israel. Sixteen bodies have not yet been returned, though Hamas stated it had recovered another corpse that will be handed back when “conditions allow.”

On Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump reaffirmed the truce, saying, “we want to make sure it's going to be very peaceful.” Discussing internal violence in Gaza, he described Hamas as “quite rambunctious” and said, “they've been doing some shooting,” though he suggested that “maybe the leadership isn't involved” and that it could be “some rebels within.”

The IDF denied reports linking Sunday’s strikes to clashes between Hamas and an Israel-aligned militia in Rafah. It stated Hamas had targeted its troops in an area still under Israeli control with anti-tank missiles and gunfire. An Israeli government spokesperson emphasized that forces had been operating near Rafah “to dismantle terrorist infrastructure all in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.”

Hamas, which has repeatedly accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, reiterated that it had been cut off from its remaining cells in Rafah for months and was “not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

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