IDF: Tank in Gaza hit by explosive device in ‘grave’ truce breach; no soldiers hurt
An IDF tank was struck by a Hamas explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Saturday, decrying the incident as a violation of the ceasefire in the enclave.
The Israel Defense Forces said the incident took place during operations of the Givati Brigade near the “Yellow Line,” with no injuries caused.
In a separate incident, soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade spotted two terror operatives who crossed the Yellow Line “in an attempt to sabotage weapons belonging to IDF troops,” the military said.
The IDF said the pair approached troops “in a manner that posed a threat,” and the soldiers opened fire and killed the operatives.
The IDF said both incidents are a “violation of the ceasefire,” and it views them “gravely,” indicating that the military intends to respond.
Amid efforts to advance a US-backed plan to disarm Hamas in the Strip, Israel quietly halted airstrikes in Gaza for a week before resuming them on Wednesday.
The strikes then multiplied on Thursday, with Israel said to have killed a Hamas company commander in a strike on southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and a senior Hamas police officer in a Gaza City strike.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya was set to travel to Cairo on Saturday evening for talks with Egyptian officials, a Hamas source told AFP, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner to the region.
Hayya, who will be visiting Egypt for the first time since assuming leadership of Hamas in late July, is due to meet with Egypt’s intelligence chief Hassan Rashad on Sunday morning, the source said.
Kushner will visit Israel and Egypt next week in hopes of bridging gaps on the Gaza plan, which was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will be accompanied by Nickolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza of Trump’s so-called Board of Peace tasked with implementing the deal.
The trip comes after Netanyahu publicly dismissed the 15-point plan announced by Mladenov. The terror group has avoided the use of the term “disarmament,” saying instead that it agrees to hand over weapons to be stored under the NCAG.
A Board of Peace official said Kushner and Mladenov hoped for “constructive conversations” on advancing Trump’s overall peace plan, which began with the October 2025 declaration of a ceasefire that has reduced but not ended Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Israel launched the war after Hamas-led terrorists carried out a brutal massacre of southern communities on October 7, 2023.
The latest part of the Gaza plan would start a phased Israeli withdrawal from much of the Strip, according to an initial version released by the Board of Peace.
Mladenov later backtracked and said that Israel would not need to pull out troops until a complete Hamas disarmament.
Netanyahu had vowed no pullout and has voiced scepticism that Hamas would disarm, saying it should destroy weapons in a verifiable way.
Hamas insisted it was abiding by the deal.
“We continue to await pressure from the mediators and the US side on Netanyahu and his government to compel him to abide by the roadmap,” Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP on Friday.
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An IDF tank was struck by a Hamas explosive device in the southern Gaza Strip, which the military deemed a "grave" violation of the ceasefire. No soldiers were injured. In a separate incident, IDF soldiers killed two terror operatives who crossed the "Yellow Line" attempting to sabotage weapons. These incidents occurred as Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya traveled to Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, ahead of a visit by US envoy Jared Kushner to the region. Kushner aims to bridge gaps on a US-backed plan for Gaza, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected due to skepticism about Hamas's disarmament. Hamas insists it is abiding by the deal, with Bassem Naim stating, "We continue to await pressure from the mediators and the US side on Netanyahu and his government to compel him to abide by the roadmap."
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