As the cease-fire entered its fifth day, Israel announced that its troops had fired on militants in Gaza, as the deadly West Bank operation continued.

Tel Aviv – Testing the damaged border Cease fire He said on Thursday that Israeli forces opened fire in the southern part of the country for the fifth day. Gaza Strip On masked and armed suspects posing a threat to their safety. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces reported that aid trucks had been delivering more food, water and medical supplies since the ceasefire went into effect east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah and near the Kerem Shalom border crossing. .

The IFF said it had killed a militant with the Islamic Jihad group and that Israel remains “committed to fully maintaining the ceasefire agreement to return the hostages” and is “prepared for any eventuality and will continue to take all necessary measures to thwart any immediate threat to the IDF.”

There was no immediate response to the incident from Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Hours before the IDF confirmed the newly sworn-in US operation in southern Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called and told the Israeli leader that “maintaining strong U.S. support for Israel is a top priority for President Trump.” Read the call.

Rubio made a series of calls to foreign ministers around the world, but Netanyahu was the first head of state he spoke to, according to a State Department filing. The two men also discussed freeing the 94 Israeli hostages still in Gaza, seven of whom are Israeli-Americans, and addressing threats from Iran, although the State Department has not released a statement.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported no new deaths since the ceasefire, but rescue and recovery teams and civilians found more bodies, and in some cases piles of bones, in the rubble of the devastated Palestinian settlement.

The ministry said more than 47,200 people had been killed in the war fueled by Hamas terror attacks on Israel as of Thursday, with militants killing an estimated 1,200 people and abducting 251 others. The ministry announced that more than 160 bodies have been found in Gaza since the cease-fire agreement began on Sunday.

Thousands of bodies are believed to still lie beneath the collapsed buildings in the pre-war home of some 2.3 million people. About 14,000 people have disappeared, the media office of Gaza’s Hamas administration said Thursday.

According to rescue workers and aid agencies, rapid recovery efforts with aid distribution are hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and infrastructure.

As of Wednesday, the United Nations said 808 shipments of humanitarian aid, including food, fuel and medical supplies, had entered the prison since the ceasefire took effect. But the cease-fire and embargo agreement negotiated by the US, Qatar and Egypt called for 600 trucks to enter the territory.

Hamas said it would release four more hostages – Israeli women – on Saturday. First exchange on Sunday Three prisoners were released A replacement for about 90 Palestinian prisoners released from an Israeli prison in the occupied West Bank. Israel is expected to release an additional 200 Palestinian prisoners over the weekend of next week.

Meanwhile, A A “big” military attack What began with the IDF in the West Bank continued overnight earlier this week, centered in and around the sprawling Jenin refugee camp in the northern part of the Palestinian Authority.

The IDF says it has killed two people in Operation “Iron Wall” linked to the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Jihad group, which it says shot and killed three Israelis in an attack in the West Bank two weeks ago.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank, which is not controlled by Hamas like Gaza, said on Wednesday that 10 Palestinians had been killed in a new IDF operation.

The “Iron Wall” is a major show of force by the IDF in the West Bank area of ​​Jenin, which Israel considers a stronghold of Iran-backed militant groups. Since the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect, the IDF has turned its attention — and firepower — to the West Bank.

One of President Trump’s many first steps as he begins his second term in office this week is a crackdown on Israeli settlers who are seen as a security threat in the West Bank. It is to end the Biden era sanctions.

Domestically, for Prime Minister Netanyahu, the West Bank offensive may have been aimed at least in part at keeping part of his support base — including. Right-right members of his own cabinet – Angry at the cease-fire agreement with Hamas.

Israel’s former minister of national security, right-wing nationalist Itamar Ben-Givir, resigned in opposition to the deal and surrendered to terrorism.

If Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, another far-right cabinet member, steps down, Netanyahu’s weak coalition government will collapse. Early national elections are expected to be called in the country, which could end Netanyahu’s long-term hold on political power.