Hamas freed all living hostages for nearly 2,000 prisoners as Israel agreed to halt its offensive
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City.PHOTO: REUTERS
Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas in eastern Gaza on Thursday, Palestinian residents and witnesses said, a day after Israel insisted it remained committed to a US-backed ceasefire despite launching fresh bombardments in the territory.
Witnesses said Israeli planes carried out 10 airstrikes in areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, while tanks shelled areas east of Gaza City in the north. No injuries or deaths were reported.
The Israeli military said it conducted “precise” strikes against “terrorist infrastructure that posed a threat to the troops” in areas still under its control.
The strikes were the latest test of the fragile ceasefire that took effect on October 10 in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“We’re scared that another war will break out because we don’t want a war. We’ve suffered two years of displacement. We don’t know where to go or where to come,” said displaced resident Fathi Al-Najjar in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
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At the tent encampment where Najjar spoke, children filled plastic bottles with water from metal containers placed along the street, while women cooked meals for their families using clay-made firewood ovens.
Return of deceased hostages
Under the ceasefire accord, Hamas released all living hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and wartime detainees. Israel also agreed to pull back its troops and halt its offensive.
Hamas additionally committed to handing over the remains of all 28 dead hostages. It has so far returned 15 bodies, saying more time is needed to locate and retrieve the rest.
The militant group’s armed wing said on Thursday it would hand over two more bodies of hostages at 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT).
The recovery and handover of the hostages’ remains has been one of the key obstacles to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan. Israel accuses Hamas of deliberately delaying the process, a charge Hamas denies.
Gaza officials say woman and children killed
From Tuesday into Wednesday, Israel retaliated for the death of an Israeli soldier with bombardments that Gaza health authorities said killed 104 people.
Witnesses said they did not observe any strikes on Thursday outside the area Israel still controls.
Israel said the soldier was killed in an attack by gunmen within the so-called “yellow line,” the territory to which its troops had withdrawn under the ceasefire. Hamas rejected the accusation.
The Israeli military issued a list of 26 militants it said were targeted during this week’s bombardment, including one Hamas commander allegedly involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel that triggered the war.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office accused Israel of conducting a “systematic campaign of misinformation” to justify “crimes against civilians in Gaza.”
The Gaza health ministry said 46 children and 20 women were among the 104 people killed in the airstrikes.
Sources close to international efforts to maintain the ceasefire said US and regional mediators swiftly intervened to restore calm as Israel and Hamas traded blame.
Strikes raise doubts in Gaza
Residents of the Gaza Strip — much of which has been reduced to wasteland — said they feared the tenuous truce would collapse. Many said the past two nights, marked by renewed shelling, felt like a revival of the two-year war.
Also Read: FO condemns Israel for violating Gaza truce
“The situation is extremely difficult. The war is still ongoing, and we have no hope that it will end because of the conditions we are witnessing,” said Gaza resident Mohammed Al-Sheikh.
A Palestinian boy reacts as he sits at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a house, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, October 29, 2025.PHOTO: REUTERS
The war has displaced most of Gaza’s more than two million residents, many of them several times over. Thousands have yet to return home, fearing further displacement.
Gaza health authorities say 68,000 people have been confirmed killed in the Israeli campaign, with thousands more missing.
Israel launched the war after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
