Israel's Netanyahu orders immediate 'powerful' strikes in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has ordered his army to immediately carry out “powerful strikes” in Gaza.

Netanyahu made the announcement shortly after Israel said that Hamas had opened fire at Israeli forces in southern Gaza.

Tensions were already high after Hamas returned a set of remains that Israel said belonged to the body of an Israeli hostage recovered earlier in the war.

“Hamas are lying about our hostages… Yesterday, Hamas terrorists were filmed removing body remains from a prepared structure and re-burying them nearby, before summoning Red Cross representatives to stage a false “discovery” for photographers,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon.

Netanyahu called the return a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to return all Israeli hostage remains as soon as possible.

The IDF released a statement saying: “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.”

In another sign of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops were shot at in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and returned fire, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because there hasn’t been an official announcement yet.

There are still 13 bodies of hostages in Gaza. Hamas said on Tuesday that it had recovered the body of a hostage, which it plans to hand over on Tuesday evening.

The slow return of hostages’ bodies is posing a challenge to implementing the next stages of the ceasefire, which will address other challenges such as the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.

Hamas has said it is struggling to locate the bodies amongst the vast destruction in Gaza, while Israel has accused the militant group of purposely delaying their return.

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel came into effect on October 10, with the Israeli military confirming an end to the fighting in Gaza.

The ceasefire formed the first part of a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump on September 30, which was agreed to by Hamas and Israel.