Gaza’s nine-day-old ceasefire came under strain Sunday after the Israeli army said it launched air strikes in response to attacks it claimed were carried out by Hamas militants against its forces.

Hamas, however, maintained it was adhering to the truce, with one official accusing Israel of devising “pretexts” to resume its own attacks.

Later on Sunday, the military said in an online briefing that it launched strikes after attacks in Rafah, southern Gaza, and in the northern town of Beit Lahia, warning, “There is a possibility of more strikes.”

Gaza’s civil defence agency, which operates under Hamas authority, said at least 13 people had been killed across the territory. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of casualties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier instructed security forces to take “strong action against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip,” his office said in a statement, accusing Hamas of “a ceasefire violation.”

The Defence Minister, Israel Katz, then warned that the group would “pay a heavy price for every shot and every breach of the ceasefire,” adding Israel’s response would “become increasingly severe.”

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The uneasy truce in the Palestinian territory, brokered by US President Donald Trump and taking effect on 10 October, brought to a halt more than two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.

The deal established the outline for hostage and prisoner exchanges and was proposed alongside an ambitious roadmap for Gaza’s future, but it has immediately faced challenges in implementation.

“Earlier today, terrorists fired anti-tank missiles and opened fire on IDF (army) forces” in Rafah, the military said in a statement.

“The IDF responded with air strikes by fighter jets and artillery fire, targeting the Rafah area,” the statement said.

Palestinian witnesses told AFP clashes erupted in the southern city of Rafah in an area still held by Israel.

One witness, a 38-year-old man who asked not to be identified by name, said that Hamas had been fighting a local Palestinian gang known as Abu Shabab, but the militants were “surprised by the presence of army tanks”.

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“The air force conducted two strikes from the air,” he said.

‘Security illusion’

National security minister and right-wing firebrand Itamar Ben Gvir urged the army to “fully resume fighting in the Strip with all force.”

A statement from Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, reaffirmed the group’s commitment to the ceasefire and said Israel “continues to breach the agreement and fabricate flimsy pretexts to justify its crimes.”

Hamas’s armed wing insisted on Sunday that the group was adhering to the ceasefire agreement with Israel and had “no knowledge” of any clashes in Rafah.

Under Trump’s 20-point plan, Israeli forces have withdrawn beyond the so-called Yellow Line, leaving them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders but not its main cities.

Hamas, in turn, has released 20 surviving hostages and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.

The war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has killed at least 68,159 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers credible.

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The data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Rafah crossing closed

On Sunday, Israel identified the latest two bodies returned overnight as Ronen Engel and Thai farmworker Sonthaya Oakkharasri.

Engel, a resident of Nir Oz kibbutz, was abducted from his home aged 54 and killed during the October 7 attacks, with his body taken to Gaza.

He was a photojournalist and volunteer ambulance driver for Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross, in the southern Negev region.

A farmworker at the Beeri kibbutz, Oakkharasri, was also killed in the attack on Israel. He had a seven-year-old daughter.

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Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians to Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total number handed over to 150, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

The issue of hostage bodies still in Gaza has become a sticking point in the ceasefire implementation, with Israel linking the reopening of the main gateway into the territory to the recovery of all of the deceased.

Relief agencies have called for the Rafah crossing from Egypt to be reopened to speed the flow of food, fuel and medicines.

Hamas has so far resisted disarming and, since the pause in fighting, has moved to reassert its control over Gaza.

The group has said it needs time and technical assistance to recover the remaining bodies from under Gaza’s rubble.

Netanyahu’s office said reopening Rafah would “be considered based on how Hamas fulfils its part in returning the hostages and the bodies of the deceased, and in implementing the agreed-upon framework,” it said.

Hamas warned late Saturday that the closure of the crossing would cause “significant delays in the retrieval and transfer of remains.”

AFP

The World Bank President, Ajay Banga, has warned that without deliberate and coordinated global action, the growing population of young people could become a source of instability rather than a catalyst for progress.

This was as he projected that Nigeria’s population may rise by about 130 million by the year 2050.

Banga disclosed this during the 2025 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, where he warned that Africa’s explosive population growth presented both an unprecedented opportunity and a looming risk.

He cautioned that failure to create economic opportunities might turn youthful optimism into frustration, fueling unrest, insecurity, and mass migration with far-reaching consequences for every region and economy.

According to him, with the right investments focused on opportunity rather than need, Africa’s young population could become a powerful engine for sustainable growth and innovation in the decades ahead.

Banga described the coming decades as “one of the great demographic shifts in human history,” noting that by 2050, more than 85 per cent of the world’s population will live in countries currently considered developing.

He warned that over the next 10 to 15 years, approximately 1.2 billion young people will enter the global workforce, competing for only 400 million available jobs, resulting in a gap of 800 million unemployed or underemployed youths worldwide.

A transcript of his speech obtained by our correspondent on Saturday read, “Reconstruction is an essential part of our mandate. A service we stand ready to deliver whenever and wherever it’s needed and to the best of our ability. At the same time, as an institution of development, we are equally committed to conflict prevention.

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“Alongside rebuilding what has been lost, we must also focus on creating the conditions for opportunity and stability. That is what motivates our actions and decisions today. We are living through one of the great demographic shifts in human history. By 2050, more than 85 per cent of the world’s population will live in countries we call “developing” today.

“In just the next 10 to 15 years, 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce, vying for roughly 400 million jobs. That leaves a very large gap. Let me express that urgency another way: Four young people will step into the global workforce every second over the next ten years.”

He added that in the time it takes to deliver the remarks, tens of thousands would cross that threshold, full of ambition, impatient for opportunity.

The World Bank boss said the pace of population growth was most staggering in Africa, which will be home to one in four people by 2050.

“Between now and then, estimates suggest that Zambia will add 700,000 people every year. Mozambique’s population will double. While Nigeria will swell by about 130 million, firmly establishing itself as one of the most populous nations in the world.

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“These young people, with their energy and ideas, will define the next century. With the right investments, focused not on need but on opportunity, we can unlock a powerful engine of global growth.

“Without purposeful effort, their optimism risks turning into despair, fueling instability, unrest, and mass migration, with implications for every region and every economy,” he added.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, Nigeria’s current population stands at about 237.5 million, already making it the most populous nation in Africa and the sixth largest globally.

However, with the projected surge of 130 million new citizens in the next 25 years, Nigeria could climb even higher, outpacing many developed nations in size and youth population.

The World Bank President described Africa as the epicentre of this demographic transformation, where birth rates remain high and economic growth has struggled to keep pace.

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Banga echoed this concern, warning that failure to harness the demographic dividend could destabilise economies and fuel insecurity.

“Without deliberate action, optimism could give way to despair, driving instability, unrest, and mass migration with consequences for every region and economy,” he noted.

Banga emphasised that job creation must be at the core of all national and international development strategies.

“This is why jobs must be at the centre of development, economic, or national security strategy,” he stated.

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He disclosed that the World Bank Group has expanded its financial capacity by about $100bn through new instruments and partnerships.

The multilateral development bank co-financing platform, he added, now hosts a pipeline of 175 projects, with 22 already financed, worth about $23bn.

The Bank is also working on an IFC2030 strategy aimed at mobilising more private capital to complement public investment, particularly in developing economies like Nigeria.

Nigeria’s fast-growing population has long been a source of debate among economists and policymakers. While its youthful population, estimated at over 60 per cent under age 25, offers potential for innovation and productivity, the country faces severe infrastructure deficits, high unemployment, and limited social services.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that youth unemployment stood at over 33 per cent in 2024, while millions remain underemployed or outside the formal labour force.

China and the United States agreed on Saturday to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.

Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation.

Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had “candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges” during a Saturday morning call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of trade talks “as soon as possible”.

On social media, Bessent described the call as “frank and detailed”, and said they would meet “in-person next week to continue our discussions”.

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Bessent had previously accused China of seeking to harm the rest of the world by tightening restrictions on rare earths, which are critical to everything from smartphones to guided missiles.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer also participated in the call, according to the report by Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all.

Trump told the outlet that the 100 percent tariff on goods from China was not sustainable.

“It’s not sustainable, but that’s what the number is… They forced me to do that,” he said.

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The high-level video call came as Washington worked to rally Group of Seven finance ministers in response to the latest Chinese export controls.

For now, the G7 ministers have agreed to coordinate a short-term response and diversify suppliers, the EU’s economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Washington.

Speaking after the grouping met this week, Dombrovskis noted the vast majority of rare earth supplies come from China, meaning that diversification could take years.

“We agreed, both bilaterally with the US and at the G7 level, to coordinate our approach,” he said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s fall meetings.

Countries would also exchange information on their contacts with Chinese counterparts as they work out short-term solutions, he added.

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German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists he hopes that Trump and Xi’s meeting can help to resolve much of the US-China trade conflict.

“We have made it clear within the G7 that we do not agree with China’s approach,” he added, referring to the group of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva also expressed hope Friday for an agreement between the countries to cool tensions.

The US-China trade war reignited this year as Trump promised sweeping tariffs on imports soon after returning to office.

At one point, US-China tariffs escalated to triple-digit levels, effectively halting some trade as businesses waited for a resolution.

The two countries have since lowered their respective levies, but their truce has remained shaky.

AFP