Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Tuesday he has ordered the military to right away perform “highly effective strikes” in Gaza, and Hamas responded by saying it will delay handing over the physique of a hostage, placing new strain on the tenuous U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Related Press reporters and witnesses heard tank hearth and noticed explosions in numerous components of Gaza, together with in Gaza Metropolis and Deir al-Balah.
The order from Netanyahu follows heightened tensions, as Israel reported Hamas firing on its forces in southern Gaza and after Hamas returned a set of stays that Israel stated belonged to a hostage recovered earlier within the warfare.
“This constitutes a transparent violation of the [Gaza peace] settlement” by Hamas, Netanyahu’s workplace stated, including that the prime minister would meet with the heads of Israel’s protection institution, “throughout which Israel’s steps in response to the violations might be mentioned.”
In an indication of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops had been shot at within the southern metropolis of Rafah on Tuesday and returned hearth, in accordance with an Israeli navy official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of there hasn’t been an official announcement but.
Talking with reporters aboard Air Drive One on his method to South Korea, President Trump addressed the clashes, saying “nothing’s going to jeopardize” the ceasefire.
Mr. Trump stated Hamas is a “very small a part of peace within the Center East” and that “if they don’t seem to be good, they will be terminated. Their lives might be terminated. they usually perceive that.”
“No one is aware of what occurred to the Israeli soldier, however they are saying it was sniper hearth, and [the Israeli response] was retribution for that, and I feel they’ve a proper to try this,” Mr. Trump stated.
There are nonetheless 13 our bodies of hostages in Gaza. Hamas stated Tuesday it had recovered the physique of a hostage, however after Netanyahu introduced the plans to strike Gaza, Hamas stated in a press release it will delay the handover.
An Related Press videographer in Khan Younis witnessed what gave the impression to be a white physique bag being carried out from a tunnel by a number of males, together with some masked militants, after which transported into an ambulance. It was not instantly clear what was within the bag.
The gradual return of hostages’ our bodies is posing a problem to implementing the following levels of the ceasefire, which can deal with even knottier points, such because the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of a world safety pressure in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.
The Israel Protection Forces accused Hamas Tuesday of “trying to create a misunderstanding of efforts to find the our bodies, whereas in truth holding deceased hostages whose stays it refuses to launch as required by the settlement.”
The IDF stated its drones had recorded Hamas operatives “eradicating physique stays from a construction that had been ready prematurely and burying them close by” on Monday, after which staging “a false show of discovering a deceased hostage’s physique.”
Hamas has stated it’s struggling to find the our bodies amid the huge destruction in Gaza, whereas Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return. Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a group of specialists and heavy gear to assist seek for the our bodies of the remaining hostages. That work continued Tuesday in Khan Younis and Nuseirat.
Israeli hostage negotiator and peace campaigner Gershon Baskin informed CBS Information earlier this month that it was “very doubtless that there is perhaps Israeli our bodies beneath the rubble” in Gaza, the place the Hamas-run authorities estimates that no less than 90% of the buildings have been broken or destroyed.
That is the second time because the ceasefire started on Oct. 10 that is still turned over by Hamas have been problematic. Israel stated one of many our bodies Hamas launched within the first week of the ceasefire belonged to an unidentified Palestinian.
Throughout a earlier ceasefire in February 2025, Hamas stated it handed over the our bodies of three hostages, Shiri Bibas and her two sons, however testing confirmed that one of many our bodies returned was recognized as a Palestinian girl. Shiri Bibas’ physique was returned a day later.
The stays returned in a single day have been recognized as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Netanyahu’s workplace stated.
Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music competition within the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel that began the warfare. In all, the militants killed some 1,200 those who day, principally civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Tzarfati was killed in captivity and his physique was retrieved by Israeli troops in November 2023. In March 2024, his household acquired extra stays for burial.
Tzarfati’s household stated in a press release that that is the third time “we now have been compelled to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son.”
In change for 15 useless hostages returned from Gaza because the ceasefire started, Israel has handed again to Gaza 195 Palestinian our bodies. The final 20 dwelling hostages had been returned to Israel initially of the ceasefire, and in change, Israel freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli authorities stated that they had killed three Palestinian militants throughout an operation within the northern a part of the occupied West Financial institution, the newest motion in Israel’s stepped-up navy exercise within the territory because the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault.
Israeli police stated the three males had been shot as they got here out of a cave close to Jenin, a city within the northern West Financial institution generally known as a militant stronghold. The Israeli navy stated in a press release that the militants “took half in terror exercise in Jenin,” however gave no additional particulars.
Two militants had been shot and killed within the preliminary volley of gunfire. The third, who was wounded, was killed shortly after, in accordance with the Israeli navy.
An earlier assertion stated the Israeli navy carried out an airstrike shortly afterward to destroy the cave. The military confirmed an airstrike within the space however gave no additional particulars.
Hamas condemned the Jenin strike and later recognized two of the three males as militants with Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The third man was known as a “comrade,” however no extra particulars about him got.
Israel says its operations have cracked down on militants within the West Financial institution. However Palestinians and human rights teams say scores of uninvolved civilians have additionally been among the many useless, whereas tens of 1000’s of individuals have been displaced from their properties.
Over 68,500 Palestinians have died within the two-year warfare in Gaza, in accordance with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its rely. The ministry maintains detailed casualty data which might be seen as typically dependable by U.N. businesses and impartial specialists. Israel has disputed them with out offering its personal toll.
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