Gaza City [Gaza], October 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to carry out intense strikes on the war-devastated Gaza Strip, after accusing Hamas of violating the United States-brokered ceasefire.
"Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip," a statement from his office said.
Earlier, Netanyahu said Hamas had committed a "clear violation" of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza by returning remains belonging to a previously recovered captive.
Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and several Arab nations have accused Israel of multiple violations of the agreement over the last nearly three weeks. Dozens have been killed in Gaza and Israel is continuing to heavily restrict the flow of aid to those who desperately need it. Hamas's military wing announced that it will postpone the handover of the Israeli captive's body that it found earlier on Tuesday "due to violations" by Israel.
In a statement, Qassam Brigades stressed that any Israeli escalation "will hinder search, digging, and retrieval operations of the bodies, which will lead to a delay in recovering the bodies" of the dead captives.
The latest developments have threatened an already-straining ceasefire agreement and sparked fears of a return to war on Gaza's bombarded and besieged population.
There were reports of gunfire in Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt later on Tuesday. It is thought that there was an exchange of fire between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters from the Gaza Strip.
Then, artillery shelling started, and explosions were heard in Rafah and the eastern part of Khan Younis city. There are also reports that one Israeli soldier was injured.
The latest remains handed over by Hamas earlier were not from the 13 dead captives yet to be returned, according to Netanyahu.
Instead, he said they were those of a captive whose body had already been retrieved by Israeli forces nearly two years ago.
Netanyahu's far-right cabinet has called for harsh measures in response, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urging the re-arrest of Palestinians released in exchanges "in response to Hamas's repeated and ongoing violations".
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the correct response was to "destroy [Hamas] completely".
Other options include halting the already severely limited flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, expanding Israeli control of the enclave, or ordering air strikes targeting Hamas leaders, according to Israeli media.
Netanyahu identified the remains delivered on Monday as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, an Israeli kidnapped from the Nova music festival during an attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
His body was recovered by Israeli forces in November 2023. In March 2024, his family received additional remains for burial. Tzarfati's family said in a statement that this is the third time "we have been forced to open Ofir's grave and rebury our son".
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing relatives of Israeli captives, demanded an urgent meeting with Netanyahu and said Hamas could not "be given a pass for violating the agreement".
In a statement, the group accused Hamas of "cynical manipulation" and "dishonouring our loved ones".
"The Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations," said the group.
Hamas agreed to return the remains of captives to Israel under the ceasefire agreement, but 13 bodies have yet to be turned over to Israeli authorities, posing a challenge to implementing the next stages of the agreement.
Hamas has said it is struggling to locate the bodies amid the vast destruction by Israel in Gaza, although the search has accelerated in recent days with the arrival of heavy machinery from Egypt.
Source: Qatar Tribune
