Gaza Herald – A senior Hamas official said the explosion in Rafah was caused by Israeli-planted explosives, rejecting Israeli claims of a ceasefire violation.
Mahmoud Mardawi said that the Movement had informed mediators that the blast resulted from Israeli devices already embedded in the area, not from any Hamas action.
The statement came after an Israeli officer was injured in Rafah, prompting the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accuse Hamas of breaching the agreement and to threaten retaliation. Hamas dismissed the accusation as manufactured, arguing that Israel was seeking a pretext to intensify its military actions despite the truce.
Local sources reported that Israeli surveillance drones had remained continuously over Gaza in recent days, apparently preparing targets, and said the Rafah incident was used as a “fabricated trigger” to launch a violent breach of the ceasefire, exposing what he described as Israel’s deliberate strategy to undermine the truce.
