Israeli strikes kill nine in Gaza, as Israel rejects ceasefire talks

Israeli strikes kill nine in Gaza, Israeli minister says no deal to halt attacks

Israeli airstrikes continued across Gaza on Sunday, killing at least nine Palestinians, even as US President Donald Trump claimed a breakthrough had been reached in efforts to revive and implement a ceasefire agreement struck last year.

The renewed violence has cast fresh doubt over the US-backed roadmap, with Israel's Energy Minister Eli Cohen insisting that there is currently no agreement to stop military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Cohen, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, went further, saying Israel should ultimately take full control of the territory.

Israel already controls roughly 70 per cent of Gaza, according to the account provided in the report.

Families among latest casualties

Palestinian health officials said Israeli warplanes struck several locations across Gaza, including Gaza City in the north, Deir al-Balah in the centre and Khan Younis in the south.

In Deir al-Balah, a man and his wife were killed and four others wounded when an apartment was hit, according to medics.

Another strike on an apartment in Gaza City killed two people, including a child.

In the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, a father, mother and their nine-year-old son were killed in a strike around dawn.

Another Palestinian was killed near Jabalia in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military said its strikes were directed at Hamas operatives. It said two commanders of Hamas' elite Nukhba force were targeted in Deir al-Balah, while strikes in Gaza City and Jabalia were aimed at other “military operatives.”

The military said it was still reviewing the circumstances surrounding the latter strikes.

Palestinian health authorities say at least 1,230 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire was reached in October.

Israel says no deal exists

The latest attacks came just days after Trump said there had been a breakthrough in negotiations after Hamas agreed to disarm under a US-backed plan intended to implement the ceasefire agreement reached last year in Egypt.

Trump's Board of Peace, the US-led body overseeing the process, subsequently published a 15-point roadmap outlining what it described as the remaining steps required to implement the agreement.

But the roadmap has yet to take effect on the ground.

Hamas has said it is prepared to hand over its weapons for storage only after Israel stops military operations and withdraws its forces in accordance with the earlier agreement.

Israel, however, has taken a fundamentally different position.

An Israeli official told Reuters that Israeli forces would not withdraw from their current positions unless Hamas undergoes “genuine disarmament.”

Cohen also expressed scepticism that Hamas would surrender its weapons.

He said he did not believe the group would disarm, arguing that it would instead “play games” and attempt to conceal its arsenal.

Netanyahu silent as far right pushes back

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to publicly endorse the latest US initiative.

Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has openly rejected the proposal, calling it unacceptable and arguing that Israel should continue targeting Hamas leaders.

The opposition highlights the difficult political terrain facing any attempt to turn Trump's diplomatic announcement into an actual cessation of hostilities.

For Hamas, disarmament is tied to an Israeli withdrawal and an end to military operations.

For Israel, disarmament is being presented as a prerequisite for withdrawal.

That leaves the central elements of the proposed ceasefire trapped in a dispute over which side must move first.

Dahlan says US is pressing Israel

Former senior Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan, who is based in the United Arab Emirates, offered another indication of behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

In a Facebook post, Dahlan said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a senior adviser involved in the US initiative, told him that he was working with the Israeli side to stop attacks on Gaza.

Dahlan said discussions with the United States were continuing in an effort to ensure full implementation of the agreement.

But he argued that its success ultimately depended on Israel ending what he described as daily attacks on Gaza.

Reuters said it had contacted the US State Department for comment on Dahlan's account. Israel had not immediately responded.

Ceasefire breakthrough or another false start?

Trump's announcement raised hopes that the long-running Gaza conflict could finally move towards a more permanent political settlement.

But Sunday's strikes suggest the gap between a diplomatic roadmap and reality on the ground remains enormous.

With Israeli officials insisting there is no ceasefire deal, Hamas conditioning disarmament on an Israeli withdrawal, and far-right members of Netanyahu's government openly rejecting the US-backed initiative, the proposed roadmap faces a difficult test.

For Palestinians in Gaza, meanwhile, the diplomatic arguments continue against the backdrop of another day of airstrikes and fresh deaths.

The question now is not simply whether a roadmap exists on paper.

It is whether Israel and Hamas can agree on the first step needed to make it real.