DON GONYEA, HOST:
The Israeli military has carried out its first airstrikes in Gaza since a ceasefire begun more than a week ago, according to Israeli media reports. An Israeli military official says the strikes were in response to multiple attacks against Israeli forces from Hamas fighters. NPR's Rob Schmitz joins us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Rob.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Morning, Don.
GONYEA: What more do we know about what happened this morning?
SCHMITZ: Well, what we know at this hour is, according to an Israeli military official not authorized to speak publicly and who spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity, Hamas fighters attacked Israeli soldiers with an anti-tank missile and with gunfire this morning. And according to this official, these fighters did so beyond the so-called yellow line where the Israeli military is currently positioned in Gaza after pulling back its troops from parts of the territory as part of the ceasefire plan a week ago. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement that he met with his defense minister and security officials and instructed them to, quote, "act forcefully against terror targets in the Gaza Strip." Israel's military says it has commenced airstrikes to, quote, "eliminate the threat."
Now, earlier today, the U.S. State Department said there were credible reports that Hamas was preparing to violate the ceasefire by attacking Palestinian civilians. And for context here, Hamas has been carrying out a deadly crackdown against rival militias and clans in Gaza, but it's unclear if today's violence was connected to that crackdown. Now, for its part, Hamas' military wing denies that they engaged with Israeli forces today. And Hamas officials said the group is still committed to the ceasefire agreement, and it's accused Israel of breaking it on several occasions in the past week. So we're getting kind of a finger-pointing from both sides as to who broke the ceasefire first. But what's clear here is that we are seeing the most serious threat to the formal U.S.-brokered ceasefire since it was signed more than a week ago.
GONYEA: Let's turn to that ceasefire plan. Part of the deal was for Hamas to return the bodies of the remaining deceased Israeli hostages. Is that happening?
SCHMITZ: Yes, that is, but Hamas is returning these bodies at a slower pace than what Israel's government would prefer to see. Just last night, Hamas returned two more bodies of those who were killed on the day of the October 7 attack two years ago. Israeli authorities identified the first body as that of Ronen Engel, an Israeli killed while he was trying to protect his family during the October 7 attack. The second body was identified as Sonthaya Oakkharasri. He was from Thailand. So that makes 16 deceased hostages that still remain in Gaza. And in a statement, Israel's government called on Hamas to return the rest of these hostages as soon as possible. But Hamas says it will need special digging equipment to recover the rest of these bodies.
And it's worth pointing out here that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he will only consider reopening the Rafah crossing into Gaza, which would allow much-needed aid into Gaza, if Hamas, quote, "fulfills its part" to return the bodies of the hostages.
GONYEA: Meanwhile, the White House is sending a delegation led by Vice President Vance to the region tomorrow. What more do we know?
SCHMITZ: Yeah. According to a person briefed on this who spoke to NPR and who's not authorized to speak publicly, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner and Vice President Vance arrive here in Israel tomorrow - Monday - and Vance plans to stay here until Thursday. Witkoff will try to facilitate the return of the remaining deceased Israeli hostages, while Vice President Vance plans to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the next phase of the ceasefire plan, which would include a multinational peacekeeping force and the disarmament of Hamas. But if these military strikes continue, it's likely they'll be working instead at reviving this fragile ceasefire plan.
GONYEA: That's NPR's Rob Schmitz in Tel Aviv. Thanks, Rob.
SCHMITZ: Thanks, Don. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
