Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Tuesday he has ordered the military to instantly perform “highly effective strikes” in Gaza, and Hamas responded by saying it might delay handing over the physique of a hostage, placing new stress on the tenuous U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Related Press reporters and witnesses heard tank hearth and noticed explosions in varied elements 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 mentioned belonged to a hostage recovered earlier within the warfare.
“This constitutes a transparent violation of the [Gaza peace] settlement” by Hamas, Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned, 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, based on 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 Power One on his strategy to South Korea, President Trump addressed the clashes, saying “nothing’s going to jeopardize” the ceasefire.
Mr. Trump mentioned 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 mentioned.
There are nonetheless 13 our bodies of hostages in Gaza. Hamas mentioned Tuesday it had recovered the physique of a hostage, however after Netanyahu introduced the plans to strike Gaza, Hamas mentioned in an announcement it might 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 sluggish return of hostages’ our bodies is posing a problem to implementing the subsequent levels of the ceasefire, which is able to deal with even knottier points, such because the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of a world safety power in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.
The Israel Protection Forces accused Hamas Tuesday of “making an attempt to create a misunderstanding of efforts to find the our bodies, whereas in actual fact holding deceased hostages whose stays it refuses to launch as required by the settlement.”
The IDF mentioned its drones had recorded Hamas operatives “eradicating physique stays from a construction that had been ready upfront and burying them close by” on Monday, after which staging “a false show of discovering a deceased hostage’s physique.”
Hamas has mentioned 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 consultants and heavy tools 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 seemingly that there is likely to be Israeli our bodies beneath the rubble” in Gaza, the place the Hamas-run authorities estimates that a minimum of 90% of the buildings have been broken or destroyed.
That is the second time for the reason that ceasefire started on Oct. 10 that continues to be turned over by Hamas have been problematic. Israel mentioned 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 mentioned 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 lady. 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 mentioned.
Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music pageant within the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel that began the warfare. In all, the militants killed some 1,200 folks that day, largely 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 mentioned in an announcement that that is the third time “now we have been pressured to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son.”
In trade for 15 useless hostages returned from Gaza for the reason that ceasefire started, Israel has handed again to Gaza 195 Palestinian our bodies. The final 20 dwelling hostages had been returned to Israel at the beginning of the ceasefire, and in trade, Israel freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli authorities mentioned they’d 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 for the reason that Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault.
Israeli police mentioned 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 referred to as a militant stronghold. The Israeli navy mentioned in an announcement 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, based on the Israeli navy.
An earlier assertion mentioned 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 hundreds of individuals have been displaced from their properties.
Over 68,500 Palestinians have died within the two-year warfare in Gaza, based on Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its depend. The ministry maintains detailed casualty data which can be seen as typically dependable by U.N. businesses and unbiased consultants. Israel has disputed them with out offering its personal toll.
