Egypt Daily News – After the movement agreed to a new truce proposal in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged on Sunday to announce the effectiveness of the military pressure applied by his army on Hamas, demanding that Hamas hand over its weapons in exchange for allowing its leaders to leave the Gaza Strip.
On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, eight Palestinians, including five children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting their tent and another house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels from Yemen continued to launch long-range missiles at Israel, with the Israeli army announcing the interception of one missile before it entered Israeli airspace.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said that the intensive military pressure Israel has been applying on Hamas in the Gaza Strip had been effective, emphasizing that the movement must surrender its weapons. Netanyahu stated in a cabinet meeting, “We are negotiating under fire and we see cracks starting to appear in Hamas’s demands in the negotiations.”
He added, “Hamas must hand over its weapons and its leaders will be allowed to leave.” Netanyahu rejected claims that Israel was refusing to engage in negotiations aimed at securing the release of hostages, stating that Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to leave if they surrendered their weapons.
Israeli Airstrikes Continue
The spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defense, Mahmoud Basal, reported that eight Palestinians, including five children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a tent and a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, early on Sunday. Basal told AFP, “Eight citizens were martyred, including five children and a woman, when Israeli occupation planes targeted a tent sheltering dozens of displaced people and a house in Khan Younis,” describing the attack as “a new crime in the early hours of the first day of Eid al-Fitr.”
The Israeli bombing destroyed the one-story house and several tents. Basal noted that “the occupation launched several airstrikes, coinciding with artillery shelling toward eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, alongside Eid prayers” on Sunday morning. Thousands of Palestinians, some with their children, participated in Eid prayers held in tents and on the rubble of destroyed homes and mosques.
Israel resumed airstrikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip in early March after several weeks of relative calm.
Yemeni Missile
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen after air raid sirens sounded in several areas. The army stated in a statement, “After air raid sirens went off in several areas in Israel, Israeli air forces intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it could enter Israeli territory.” Sirens were heard in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and other areas in central Israel, with AFP reporters later hearing the sound of light explosions.
Following the outbreak of the war in Gaza after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the Houthis launched dozens of missile attacks on Israel and ships in the Red Sea, accusing them of being linked to the Israeli state, in support of Palestinians, according to their claims.
The Houthis stopped their attacks on Israel and the Red Sea when the Gaza truce took effect on January 19, 2025, but resumed them after Israel violated the ceasefire and threatened to intensify them as long as the bombing of Gaza continued.
