Board of Peace convenes as Hamas violates ceasefire

As U.S. President Donald Trump’s international Board of Peace gathered in Washington on Thursday to chart a post-war future for the Gaza Strip, on the ground, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued to systematically violate the truce, and Israeli forces engaged in a relentless effort to dismantle entrenched terror infrastructure and counter blatant ceasefire violations.

On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces announced that several weeks previously, the Northern Gaza Brigade dismantled a kilometer-long underground route that included several terrorist hideouts in Beit Hanoun. The tunnel contained explosives. 

Meanwhile, the IDF Southern Command, which is responsible for Gaza, said its units continue to operate along the Yellow Line, which separates the 53% of eastern Gaza under Israeli security control from the 47% of the Strip that remains under Hamas’s control, and where most of the Gazan civilians are located. 

Meanwhile, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, the commander of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), said that five countries pledged troops to the future intended peacekeeping force—Indonesia (which has pledged 8,000 troops), Albania, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco, while Egypt would send a deputy ISF commander. 

The Washington Board of Peace Summit also discussed plans for the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (the would-be technocratic future government), and other efforts. At least two dozen delegations attended the summit, including from observer states.

Trump chaired the inaugural meeting and announced that member states have pledged more than $5 billion toward humanitarian and reconstruction efforts. 

Trump emphasized that Hamas must uphold its commitment to full and immediate demilitarization. 

During the summit, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar stated that “all previous plans for Gaza failed because they never addressed the core issues: terror, hate, incitement and indoctrination. At the heart of President Trump’s comprehensive plan are the disarmament of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the deradicalization of Palestinian society there.”

While the Board of Peace focused on the horizon, the IDF continued to face the reality and challenges of urban security missions in Gaza.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, IDF spokesperson to the international media, released an operational update detailing a continued pattern of armed terror activity taking place under the cover of the ceasefire framework. Over the past week, multiple ceasefire violations were identified in which armed terrorists operated on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line, east of the agreed-upon boundary.

Shoshani outlined an incident from Feb. 9 in which four armed terrorists exited a tunnel shaft in Rafah and opened fire on IDF soldiers. In the ensuing close-quarters combat, troops killed three terrorists. Subsequent counter-terrorism operations around the same underground shaft led to the elimination of six additional terrorists hiding within it. “In one violation, nine terrorists—this is the reality beneath the ceasefire line. This is not what disarming looks like,” Shoshani said.

In a separate incident in Beit Hanoun on Feb. 14, several armed terrorists were identified east of the Yellow Line after exiting underground infrastructure and taking cover under debris adjacent to IDF troops. The IDF conducted precise strikes in response, targeting the operatives.

Among those eliminated was Ahmad Bayouk, a terrorist who infiltrated the Re’im base during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and took a selfie inside Israeli territory before participating in the murders.

Shoshani also confirmed the targeted killing of Azem Abu Huli, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Nukhba Array in the Central Camps sector. Abu Huli was responsible for procuring weapons, commanding terrorists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, and overseeing Nukhba training throughout the war, including preparations for abducting soldiers.

“These violations are not isolated events,” Shoshani noted, emphasizing that Hamas remains the central obstacle to long-term stabilization. “As long as resources, manpower and infrastructure are directed toward rebuilding their military capability, they are not being directed toward reconstruction, governance or economic recovery for Gaza’s civilian population.”

The complexity and high-risk nature of operations in the southern Gaza Strip took a tragic toll this week. The IDF cleared for publication the name of Staff Sgt. Ofri Yafe, 21, from the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Battalion, who fell during combat in Khan Yunis. Yafe, a resident of Moshav HaYogev in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, was killed as a result of friendly fire stemming from misidentification. 

In response to the continued emergence of terrorists from tunnels, the IDF and the Shin Bet conducted widespread attacks against targets in Gaza City in recent days, striking targets in the northern Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis. The military said that these terrorists were actively working to restore the capabilities of terror organizations and promote terror plots. 

The combat team of the Northern Brigade also identified terrorists performing suspicious activities near IDF troops in a manner that posed an immediate threat, directing the Air Force to eliminate two operatives. The military noted that forces in the Southern Command are deployed in the area according to the ceasefire agreement and will continue to act to remove any immediate threat.

Civilian infrastructure remains a point of friction as terror groups continue to exploit medical facilities. The organization Doctors Without Borders suspended all non-critical services at Gaza’s largest functioning hospital this week, saying that the facility was being used by armed men.

Meanwhile, Turkey is actively using humanitarian operations to establish a presence and cultivate soft power influence in the enclave. Following the establishment of three mosques under a Turkish foundation, Ankara funded and opened a tent camp named Yildiz 1, which translates to “Star 1” in Turkish, in the Zaytoun neighborhood of southeastern Gaza City. 

In the southern Gaza Strip, an anti-Hamas armed group openly challenged the authority of Hamas in key urban centers. Hussam al-Astal, the leader of an armed group deployed east of Khan Yunis, published a video claiming his intention to take full control of the city. 

Furthermore, newly released information revealed the operational security measures utilized by Hamas before the Oct. 7 massacre. The “military” wing of Hamas disseminated a pre-agreed-upon sign using specific emojis via the WhatsApp application mere hours before the large-scale raid, Ynet reported on Tuesday.

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