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By: Fern Sidman

In a decisive move late Sunday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the immediate closure of crossings and a halt to all humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, following a deadly Hamas ceasefire violation that claimed the lives of two Israeli soldiers. As The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday, Netanyahu convened an emergency consultation with Defense Minister Israel Katz and top members of the Israeli security establishment, directing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to respond “with force” to what Israeli officials have described as a deliberate breach of the fragile ceasefire.

According to the information provided in The Jerusalem Post report, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Netanyahu’s decision came after an anti-tank missile attack and gunfire were launched by Hamas terrorists toward IDF soldiers operating in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The attack shattered a week of tense calm and triggered retaliatory airstrikes against Hamas positions in the area.

The IDF later announced that Major Yaniv Kula, 26, a company commander in the 932nd Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, and Staff Sergeant Itay Yavetz, 21, also from the same battalion, were killed in combat. Both men were residents of Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut, a city that has repeatedly mourned soldiers throughout the Gaza war.

A third soldier, a reservist serving in the Combat Engineering Heavy Equipment Unit (TZAMA) of the Gaza Brigade, was critically injured and evacuated to hospital. His family has been notified, the military said.

The Rafah incident marks the most serious violation of the current ceasefire agreement to date. As The Jerusalem Post report emphasized, the attack came amid warnings from Washington that Hamas might soon attempt to resume hostilities.

On Saturday evening, the U.S. State Department issued a rare public statement warning mediators that it had received “credible reports of an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.” The department described the intelligence as indicating that the terrorist group was planning “an attack against Palestinian civilians,” calling such an act a “grave violation” of the existing truce.

Despite that warning, Hamas rejected the allegations early Sunday, denouncing what it called “American collusion with Israeli propaganda.” According to the report in The Jerusalem Post, the terror group dismissed the U.S. claims as “fabricated pretexts” and accused Israel of staging incidents to justify renewed military operations.

Hours later, the Hamas assault on Israeli troops in Rafah appeared to confirm Washington’s fears.

Within hours of the attack, Netanyahu ordered Israel’s southern border crossings with Gaza closed — including the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings — and instructed the Defense Ministry to suspend all aid convoys, including fuel and medical supplies.

Two senior Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post that the prime minister viewed the Rafah attack as a “red line” and saw Hamas’s actions as proof that “the ceasefire is no longer being observed in practice.”

“The Prime Minister instructed that every act of terror will be met with an unambiguous and painful response,” an official quoted in The Jerusalem Post report said. “The days of restraint are over.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it carried out extensive retaliatory strikes across the Gaza Strip following this morning’s deadly assault on Israeli troops near Rafah. According to the military, the wide-scale operation targeted dozens of Hamas positions, including a sophisticated underground tunnel network.

Utilizing fighter jets, drones, and precision artillery, Israeli forces struck multiple weapons storage sites, operational cells identified in real time, and other facilities linked to Hamas’s combat infrastructure. The IDF reported additional strikes against Hamas field commanders and operatives in central Gaza, with several confirmed casualties among the terror organization’s ranks.

Citing reports from Palestinian and regional media, Yahya al-Mabhouh—a senior commander in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force—was reportedly killed in one of the strikes in central Gaza.

In one of the largest aerial bombardments of the day, the IDF said over 120 precision munitions were used to destroy a six-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel system in southern Gaza. The tunnel, described as a major logistical and operational artery, had been used by Hamas both to stage attacks against Israel and to detain hostages during earlier phases of the conflict.

According to the IDF statement, the series of strikes was aimed at “degrading Hamas’s operational capabilities and preventing future attacks on Israeli forces and civilians.”

Meanwhile, senior Hamas figures accused Netanyahu of trying to derail the ceasefire for political reasons. “Netanyahu is evading his commitments to mediators in order to satisfy his extremist coalition,” Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement carried in The Jerusalem Post report. He alleged that Israel was “fabricating incidents to justify its crimes.”

However, The Jerusalem Post report noted that even Hamas’s own military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, appeared to distance itself from the Rafah attack. A spokesperson claimed to be “unaware of any clashes” in the area — a claim Israeli intelligence sources flatly rejected as “absurd.”

The Rafah killings have reignited fierce debate within Israel’s governing coalition, where right-wing ministers have long pushed for a return to full-scale operations in Gaza.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was among the first to call for immediate escalation. “The Nazi terrorist organization must be completely destroyed — and preferably as soon as possible,” he declared in a post on X, quoted in The Jerusalem Post report. “The war, yes — and as soon as possible.”

Ben-Gvir also praised Netanyahu’s decision to suspend aid deliveries, saying that “the flow of humanitarian assistance to Hamas territory is a moral and strategic mistake that must not be repeated.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich echoed the sentiment in a single-word post on social media: “War.”

Such statements call attention to the growing pressure on Netanyahu from his coalition partners to abandon the ceasefire framework entirely and resume full combat operations in Gaza.

The Jerusalem Post report noted that the Prime Minister is now navigating an increasingly delicate political balance — between appeasing coalition allies demanding decisive military action and managing intense international scrutiny from Washington and other mediators who continue to urge restraint.

U.S. officials fear that a total collapse of the truce could derail broader diplomatic efforts to stabilize Gaza and begin reconstruction under international supervision.

According to the information contained in The Jerusalem Post report, Israeli officials privately acknowledged that U.S. pressure to maintain the ceasefire has grown more intense. Yet Netanyahu’s aides insist that Israel “cannot allow its soldiers to be hunted while pretending peace holds.”

“The United States understands our right to defend ourselves,” one Israeli source told The Jerusalem Post. “But we will not allow Hamas to hide behind a ceasefire while targeting our troops.”

The U.S. State Department’s warning on Saturday, which foresaw a Hamas provocation, may bolster Israel’s case that Hamas was the aggressor — and that renewed Israeli operations were a justified defensive response.

Back in Israel, the deaths of Major Yaniv Kula and Staff Sergeant Itay Yavetz cast a pall over the city of Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut, home to both soldiers. Local media described scenes of grief as residents gathered for candlelight vigils and memorial prayers.

As The Jerusalem Post reported, both men had volunteered for frontline service and were considered model soldiers within the Nahal Brigade. Major Kula, who had led his company through months of heavy combat, was described by comrades as a “calm, courageous leader whose men would follow him anywhere.”

Staff Sergeant Yavetz, a graduate of the Erez Leadership Program, was known for his optimism and determination. “He believed in what he was doing — protecting Israel’s future,” said one friend, quoted in The Jerusalem Post report.

Funeral arrangements for both soldiers are expected to take place early this week, with senior IDF officials and political leaders expected to attend.

Analysts quoted in The Jerusalem Post report say Netanyahu’s decision to shut down aid flows and crossings may signal a fundamental shift in Israeli strategy — from reluctant adherence to a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to a renewed emphasis on direct deterrence.

“This is not a temporary gesture; it’s a message,” said one defense analyst. “Netanyahu is signaling that Israel will no longer play along with a ceasefire that exists only on paper. If Hamas wants calm, it will have to enforce it — not exploit it.”

The Prime Minister’s critics argue that the closure of crossings could worsen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. However, Israeli officials counter that Hamas alone bears responsibility for the renewed hostilities. “Every time Hamas fires a missile or ambushes our soldiers, they are choosing to prolong the suffering of their own people,” an IDF spokesman told The Jerusalem Post.

Meanwhile, the UN and Egyptian mediators have reportedly urged restraint, warning that further escalation could collapse fragile negotiations over hostage exchanges and postwar governance structures. But according to the report in The Jerusalem Post, Israeli officials privately believe that “Hamas’s word is worthless” and that the terror group is simply “using ceasefire pauses to regroup and rearm.”

As night fell on Sunday, the skies over Rafah and Khan Yunis lit up with Israeli airstrikes. The Jerusalem Post correspondents on the ground reported “intense explosions and secondary blasts” indicating that Hamas weapons caches were being targeted.

At the same time, Israeli citizens along the Gaza border were ordered back into shelters amid fears of retaliatory rocket fire. The IDF Home Front Command said it was “closely monitoring developments.”

In Jerusalem, Netanyahu met late into the night with senior military leaders, reiterating that Israel “will not tolerate attacks on its soldiers under any circumstance.”

As The Jerusalem Post report observed, the events in Rafah may mark a turning point — both for the ceasefire agreement and for Netanyahu’s political calculus.

The Prime Minister’s swift order to close crossings, halt aid, and authorize retaliatory strikes suggests that Israel’s patience with Hamas has run out. With two soldiers dead, one gravely wounded, and mounting evidence of Hamas duplicity, Jerusalem’s message is unmistakable: the era of unilateral restraint is over.

For now, the ceasefire still exists on paper — but after Sunday’s violence, few in Israel believe it will hold. As one senior defense official told The Jerusalem Post: “You cannot make peace with an enemy that treats every truce as a trap. Hamas has violated its word again — and this time, Israel will not be silent.”