Hamas issued a threat on Saturday to end the ceasefire in Gaza, as the Israel Defense Forces carried out several airstrikes there after a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli troops in the Strip’s south.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office, five senior Hamas officials were killed in the strikes, which a US official said the Trump administration supports.
In all, 21 people were killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency, whose tolls are unverified and do not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Saturday’s strikes and clashes marked one of the deadliest days in Gaza since the fragile ceasefire took effect on October 10, as both Israel and Hamas accused the other side of breaking its terms.
The PMO’s statement accused Hamas of repeatedly sending fighters to attack IDF troops, while Hamas signaled to mediators that it could end the ceasefire over what it called Israeli violations. But later in the day, a Hamas spokesperson denied a report that the terror group had called off the truce.
The violence began in the morning, with a Palestinian terror operative opening fire on Israeli troops in southern Gaza. The gunfire occurred on the IDF’s side of the Yellow Line, which splits Gaza between Israeli and Hamas control.
According to the military, which later published footage of the incident, the operative crossed the Yellow Line and approached troops in a vehicle while “exploiting the humanitarian route through which humanitarian aid enters” the territory’s south.
A Palestinian gunman opens fire on Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip, before being shot dead, on November 22, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
The IDF said the gunman opened fire on troops stationed in the area without causing any injuries. Troops of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade returned fire and killed the operative.
The incident was a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the IDF said.
In response, the IDF launched a series of airstrikes on Gaza, killing five senior Hamas officials, the PMO said in a statement.
“Today, Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists,” the PMO wrote.
Prime Minister’s Office:
Today, Hamas violated the ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to attack IDF soldiers. In response, Israel eliminated five senior Hamas terrorists.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 22, 2025
“Israel has fully honored the ceasefire, Hamas has not,” the statement continued.”Throughout the ceasefire, dozens of Hamas terrorists have crossed the Israeli lines to attack our troops, while they execute Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
It demanded that the terror group return the remaining slain hostages it is holding and disarm, per the terms of a peace plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
“We again call on the mediators to insist that Hamas fulfill its side of the Ceasefire and President Trump’s 20-point plan: Hamas must immediately return the three deceased hostages it is still holding and complete its disarmament and enable the total demilitarization of Gaza,” the statement concluded.
According to an Israeli official, the target of one of the strikes was Alaa Hadidi, chief of supply in Hamas’s weapons manufacturing headquarters.
Palestinian media reported that five were killed in that strike, which hit a vehicle in Gaza City.
Israel updated the US-led mechanism that oversees the ceasefire before the strike against the Hamas commander was carried out, The Times of Israel learned.
The identities of the other four Hamas officials the PMO said were killed in the strikes were not announced.
Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense agency, told AFP that the strikes were “a clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza.”
The casualties, Bassal said, included seven killed and more than 16 injured in a strike on a house in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, and four killed and several injured in a strike on a residential apartment in the Al-Nasr district, west of Gaza City, he said.
Arab official says Hamas threatened to end truce
In a reflection of the terror group’s anger over the strikes, Hamas passed along messages to the US through Arab mediators that it is prepared to end the six-week-old ceasefire over what it called Israeli violations, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.
But later on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Izzat al-Rishq denied reports that the terror group had announced an end to the truce. He said the group had asked the mediators of the agreement to intervene and compel Israel to uphold the ceasefire.
He also said the group is demanding that mediators pressure Israel to publish the identity of the gunman who was allegedly sent by Hamas, apparently referring to the assailant who opened fire at IDF forces earlier in the day.
Palestinians are seen surveying the area following an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, on November 22, 2025. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Despite Hamas’s protests, the Trump administration backs Israel’s strikes, a US official told The Times of Israel. The official added that Hamas’s leaders abroad are in favor of maintaining the ceasefire but are unable to rein in operatives on the ground.
But an Arab diplomat said Saturday that while Arab mediators maintain that Hamas fighters have carried out a number of ceasefire violations, Israel’s responses have been disproportionate and have led to too many civilian deaths.
IDF says it killed or captured 17 gunmen trying to flee Rafah tunnel
Meanwhile, after a 24-hour pursuit, the military said Saturday night that it had killed or captured all 17 Palestinian terror operatives who attempted to flee from a Hamas tunnel on the IDF’s side of the Yellow Line.
On Friday, 17 operatives emerged from a tunnel in eastern Rafah — an area where dozens of Hamas members are thought to be holed up underground — and attempted to flee back to Hamas-held areas of the Strip.
According to the IDF, six were killed in airstrikes shortly after coming out of the tunnel in the Strip’s south, and five were captured by troops of the Nahal Brigade.
On Saturday, Nahal soldiers opened fire and killed five more of the operatives in two separate incidents. They later detained the final suspect, the IDF said.
The six detained operatives were handed over to the Shin Bet for further questioning, the military added.
PIJ, Hamas said looking for final 3 hostages’ bodies
Separately, Arabic-language media reported Saturday that both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group have been conducting searches for the final three bodies of slain hostages held in the Strip.
Footage showed Islamic Jihad gunmen standing alongside excavators with Egyptian flags on them during the digging operations in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.
The searches began on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.
In addition, the Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that Hamas is carrying out searches for a body in the Zeitoun neighborhood south of Gaza City.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding the bodies of three hostages: Israelis Dror Or and Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.
They are obligated to return them under the terms of the ceasefire deal. However, the groups claim they have trouble locating the remaining bodies despite repeated searches, claims Israel has questioned.
Times of Israel staff and Agencies contributed to this report.
