Washington / PNN /

A report published by the American website Intercept stated that Israel “sabotaged” the ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump had proudly promoted, placing Washington in an awkward position before the international community, which was closely watching for its reaction to the actions of its ally.

The report came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered intense airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 20 Palestinians, including children.

Political correspondent Jonah Valdez noted that the attacks came just days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited a new U.S. military base in Israel, in an attempt to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to the ceasefire. However, Tel Aviv’s actions undermined those efforts.

According to the report, Israel had informed the Trump administration in advance of its intention to carry out the strikes, raising questions about whether the United States would hold its ally accountable or continue turning a blind eye to its repeated violations.

Yousef Munayer, program officer for Palestine and Israel at the Arab Center in Washington, commented: “All eyes are on Washington to see whether it will act as a fair judge or merely as a political façade allowing Israelis to escape accountability, as has usually been the case,” the website reported.

The second scenario prevailed, as U.S. Vice President Guy DE Vance downplayed the attacks, describing them as “minor skirmishes,” while asserting that “the ceasefire still holds,” according to the report.

The report also highlighted that the bodies of Palestinian prisoners were mutilated and showed signs of torture and abuse.

Rami Abdo, head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which tracks Israeli violations against civilians in Gaza, told the site that Israel was never serious about adhering to the ceasefire but was instead seeking pretexts to resume its attacks.

Abdo said the Israeli strikes aimed to provoke Palestinians into a military response to undermine the ceasefire. “They are trying to provoke the Palestinians and force a reaction. That is their strategy. They want any response from the Palestinians just to justify continuing their destructive mission,” he said.

However, Israel did not wait for the outcome of its strategy, instead attempting to justify its repeated breaches of the ceasefire, either by claiming that Hamas attacked Israeli soldiers or alleging that the movement deliberately obstructed the return of Israeli prisoners’ bodies, according to the report.

Indeed, Israel claimed that Hamas fired on Israeli soldiers prior to its attacks, despite the movement denying responsibility.

Abdo countered that if Israel had genuinely intended to return the remains of its prisoners, it would have facilitated all efforts to achieve that, instead of fabricating stories about ceasefire violations and staging false images.

According to the report, Hamas adhered to the ceasefire terms, returning all living prisoners within the specified period, in addition to the bodies of 15 out of 28 Israeli fatalities. However, Israeli obstacles prevented search teams from completing their work.

The report added that Israel had been the party undermining the ceasefire from the start, continuing to impose restrictions on humanitarian aid, destroying infrastructure in areas it controls in Gaza (more than 50%), closing the vital Rafah crossing, and conducting multiple airstrikes on the Strip.

Munayer said the Israeli government exploited the ceasefire to ease anti-government protests and demands for prisoner returns, then resumed military escalation once public pressure subsided—a pattern of “violence” repeated in previous ceasefires in 2023 and 2024.

He questioned: “The Israelis are now trying to create a narrative that Hamas violated the ceasefire and that is why the agreement no longer holds, but do they really think the international community will buy that?”

The report concluded that Israel, by persistently undermining the ceasefire, harms not only the Palestinians but also weakens the United States’ standing before the world, allowing Netanyahu to breach Trump’s promises with no accountability.