Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military on Tuesday to launch "immediate and powerful strikes" in Gaza following reports that Hamas had attacked IDF soldiers. Netanyahu also accused Hamas of breaking the US-brokered ceasefire by faking the return of an Israeli hostage's remains.
Israel says drone footage shows Hamas militants faking a handover, returning body parts that later turned out to be from a hostage who had already been recovered and buried almost two years ago. Officials described the act as a "clear violation" of the truce, which requires Hamas to return the remains of all the hostages immediately.
Israel Gears Up to Attack Gaza
Tensions rose further on Tuesday when Israeli forces came under fire in the southern city of Rafah and responded, an Israeli military official said. An Israeli military official told the Daily Mail: "Hamas violated the ceasefire once again, carrying out an attack against IDF forces east to the yellow line, an area under Israeli control. This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire.
"This comes after Hamas has also shown their true face and the fact that that are pretending to not know where the remaining hostages are."
There are still 13 hostage bodies believed to be in Gaza. On Tuesday, Hamas said it had recovered another hostage's body and planned to hand it over that evening.
However, citing what it described as Israeli "violations" of the US-brokered ceasefire, Hamas' armed wing announced that the transfer would be delayed.
"We will postpone the handover that was scheduled for today due to the occupation's violations," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement, adding that any Israeli "escalation will hinder the search, excavation, and recovery of the bodies."
No Stopping Israel
The militant group made the announcement just minutes after Netanyahu directed the military to launch strikes on the Gaza Strip. "Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office said.
The news comes just hours after Israel accused Hamas of returning body parts from a captive who had been buried almost two years ago.
Netanyahu's office said the partial remains handed over by Hamas on Monday night did not match any of the 13 hostages still believed to be in Gaza.
"After completing the identification process this morning, it was found that the remains returned last night belonged to fallen hostage Ofir Tzarfati, who was brought back from Gaza in a military operation about two years ago," the statement said.
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera that the body was found on Monday in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood and handed over around 9 p.m., roughly two hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for the return of remains.
However, IDF soldiers in the area say they saw Hamas militants staging the recovery. According to troops speaking to Arutz Sheva, the militants placed the body in a hole they had dug and called the Red Cross as if they had just discovered it.
The IDF has also released drone footage that it says shows Hamas operatives faking the recovery of a hostage's remains in Gaza City.
The victim, Tzarfati, was abducted from the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023, and later killed. His body was recovered at the end of November 2023 and buried in Israel, with additional remains returned for burial in March 2024. In August that year, Hamas even published a photo of his body.
