TEHRAN – The Israeli occupation regime has killed Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip despite agreeing to a ceasefire. 

Israeli occupation forces killed at least nine Palestinian civilians in the northern Gazan neighborhood of Shujaiya and near the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, violating a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. 

An occupation regime’s drone also dropped explosives east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, leading to further injuries. 

In addition to the deaths, the regime’s army arrested 15 people in the town of Nassr, northeast of Rafah, according to regional reports.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem stated that the occupation regime openly violated the Gaza ceasefire agreement by killing civilians across the Gaza Strip. 

Qassem confirmed that Hamas is closely monitoring the implementation of the agreed terms, particularly the handover of the bodies of captured Israeli soldiers held by its armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

On Monday, the regime also broke the ceasefire that had been in effect for three days. Hebrew media acknowledged that the occupation army resumed attacks in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of seven Palestinians and injuries to several others.

This escalation came despite the fact that on October 10 the Israeli cabinet approved the Gaza ceasefire agreement, which called for an immediate and complete halt to fighting and for the exchange of prisoners. 

As part of the first phase of the deal, the Palestinian resistance in Gaza handed over 20 captives alive to International Red Cross teams on October 13. In return, the regime on the same date released nearly 2,000 Palestinian hostages as part of the same agreement.

On Wednesday, October 15, Hamas also announced that it had delivered the bodies of four captives and is expected to hand over more in the coming hours and days, according to diplomatic and informed sources.

In another violation of the ceasefire agreement, the regime’s officials have announced the closure of the Rafah crossing essential to bringing much-needed aid into the besieged Palestinian territory, despite a pledge delivered to Hamas that humanitarian aid will surge to at least 600 trucks per day. 

Footage on Tuesday showed a long line of trucks waiting in Egyptian territory on the other side of the Rafah crossing. Their entry is being obstructed by the occupation regime. 

The director general of Gaza’s Government Media Office has called on the Israeli regime to open the crossings and allow aid into the enclave “immediately.”

“The suffering faced by the people of Gaza over the past two years will continue after the war ends. Priority for travel when the crossing opens will be given to the sick and wounded,” the director general said, adding, “There are a quarter of a million tons of waste in the Gaza Strip, which constitutes an environmental disaster.” 

He said, “We need heavy machinery to deal with the waste, as the war has destroyed many machines.” 

The occupation regime has cited the slow release of the dead captives for the low number of trucks entering Gaza. U.S. officials and other signatories to the ceasefire deal anticipated that Hamas would not immediately deliver the dead captives. 

During negotiations leading up to the ceasefire agreement’s implementation, Hamas informed mediators that locating all the dead captives, many of whom had been killed by Israeli airstrikes, alongside their guards, would require time. This account was even acknowledged by U.S. President Donald Trump.