Hamas says Israeli strikes on Gaza 'cannot happen without American cover'

Gaza City: A Hamas official said Friday that Israeli strikes on Gaza “cannot happen without American cover”, the day after Israeli attacks killed at least 13 people according to the Palestinian territory’s civil defence agency.

Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations.

Gaza’s civil defence agency — which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority — said Israeli attacks across the territory on Thursday killed at least 13 people, including five children.

“Just yesterday, 13 people were killed in different areas of the Strip on fabricated pretexts, in addition to the hundreds of killed and wounded who preceded them after the ceasefire,” Hamas political bureau member, Bassem Naim, wrote on Telegram.

“This cannot happen without American cover or a green light.”

Israeli forces have killed at least 439 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

The Israeli military said militants have killed three of its soldiers during the same period.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by both sides.

Naim also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “evading his commitments and escalating in order to sabotage the agreement and return to war”.

He said the Palestinian Islamist movement had “complied with all its obligations under the agreement” and was “ready to engage positively and constructively with the next steps of the plan”.

Israel has previously said it is awaiting the return of the last hostage body held in Gaza before beginning talks on the second phase of the ceasefire and has insisted that Hamas disarm.

Hamas officials told AFP that search operations for the remains of deceased hostage Ran Gvili resumed on Wednesday after a two-week pause due to bad weather.