Israeli air strikes continued in Gaza for a second straight day on Sunday, killing at least nine Palestinians, despite US President Donald Trump’s Thursday announcement of a breakthrough in efforts to implement last year’s Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that there was no deal to halt attacks on Gaza and that he saw a need for Israel, which already controls around 70 per cent of the Strip, to take full control of it.
Cohen is a member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s security cabinet, a small circle of ministers that oversees security and diplomatic policy.
Also on Sunday, Doron Spielman, a spokesperson for the prime minister’s office, said Israel’s intelligence assessment is that Hamas remains committed to rebuilding its military rather than genuinely demilitarising.
He said the Israeli military would not withdraw from Gaza before Hamas disarms.
“Our assessment is that if we redeploy before Hamas is truly disarmed, it will quickly expand its presence throughout Gaza, rebuild its terrorist infrastructure, once again threaten Israeli communities, and seek to carry out another October 7-style attack,” he said, referring to the Hamas militant attack on Israel in 2023 that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.