Israel Defense Forces said it acted to remove an immediate threat by targeting terrorist infrastructure in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza on Wednesday.
The IDF said the weapons and “aerial means” stored at the site were intended for an “imminent terror attack against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel.”
Action was taken in accordance with the U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement between Jerusalem and Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza that took effect on Oct. 10, the statement emphasized.
“IDF soldiers in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat,” the IDF said.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed support for Israeli strikes in Gaza in response to an attack on soldiers in Rafah on Tuesday that killed Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum, stressing that the incident had not jeopardized his Gaza peace plan.
“They killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens they should hit back,” Trump told reporters, adding that Israel has “a right” to retaliate. The president emphasized that “nothing’s going to jeopardize” the ceasefire agreement.
Vice President JD Vance also said that the truce would not break despite Tuesday’s flareup, telling reporters during a visit to Capitol Hill that “the ceasefire is holding. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.”
“We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an IDF soldier,” he said. “We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the president’s peace is going to hold despite it.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also offered staunch support for Israeli military action against Hamas, writing on X Tuesday that if Jerusalem “believes it is necessary to reengage Hamas militarily, so be it. They have my complete backing.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the Trump administration does not regard an Israeli strike on a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist cell that plotted to attack soldiers in Gaza as a truce violation.
“We don’t view that as a violation of the ceasefire,” he said. “They have the right if there’s an imminent threat to Israel, and all the mediators agree with that.”
The IDF struck a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in central Gaza on Oct. 24, according to the military, foiling an “imminent terrorist attack” against its troops stationed there.
The strike was conducted in the Nuseirat camp, according to the IDF.
This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.
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