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In a recent statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commanded the military to launch “powerful strikes” against Gaza, marking a significant challenge to the US-facilitated ceasefire.
The directive from Netanyahu closely followed reports from Israel alleging that Hamas had initiated an attack on Israeli troops stationed in southern Gaza.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, “After security deliberations, Prime Minister Netanyahu authorized the military to execute immediate and forceful strikes within the Gaza Strip.”
This escalation occurred mere hours after Israel leveled accusations against Hamas for returning body parts of a captive who had already been interred nearly two years prior.
The Prime Minister’s office clarified that the partial remains received from Hamas on Monday night did not correspond with any of the 13 hostages still presumed deceased and located 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.
It added that the move ‘constitutes a clear violation of the agreement’ and that Mr Netanyahu would meet senior defence officials to discuss Israel’s response.
A Hamas official told Al Jazeera the body had been found on Monday in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood and was handed over around 9pm – roughly two hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump for the group to return remains.
Hamas says it has recovered the body of an Israeli hostage from a tunnel in Gaza and has vowed to return it after an earlier overnight exchange was branded a fake by Israel. An image shows Hamas militants carry a white bag, believed to contain the remains, after retrieving it from a tunnel in Khan Younis today
Israel accused Hamas of sending back body parts belonging to a captive who was already buried nearly two years ago
Israel has accused Hamas of faking the discovery of hostage remains, claiming the group sent back body parts belonging to a captive who was already returned to Israel nearly two years ago. Pictured: Hamas operatives appear to stage the ‘recovery’ of the remains of a hostage
The IDF has released drone footage that it claims shows Hamas operatives staging the ‘recovery’ of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City
According to the troops who spoke to Arutz Sheva, the terrorists placed the body in a hole that they had dug, and called the Red Cross as if they had just located it
Pictured: Red Cross transports the body of a deceased hostage, who had been held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on October 27
But, despite Hamas’s claims, IDF soldiers operating in the area say they witnessed terrorists staging the recovery of the body.
According to the troops who spoke to Arutz Sheva, the terrorists placed the body in a hole that they had dug, and called the Red Cross as if they had just located it.
The IDF has released drone footage that it claims shows Hamas operatives staging the ‘recovery’ of the remains of a hostage in Gaza City.
Tzarfati was abducted from the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023, before being murdered.
His body was recovered at the end of November 2023 and brought to burial in Israel.
In March 2024, additional remains of Tzarfati were returned for burial in Israel.
Then, in August of that year, Hamas published a photograph of his body.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hamas said it had recovered the body of an Israeli hostage from a tunnel in Gaza and has vowed to return it after an earlier overnight exchange was branded a fake by Israel.
The militant group claims the body was found during searches in Gaza City and will be handed over to mediators for identification.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades ‘will hand over the body of an Israeli captive that was recently found in one of the tunnel routes in the Gaza Strip at 8:00pm (1800 GMT) Gaza time,’ the group said on its Telegram channel.
An image released on Tuesday shows Hamas militants carry a white bag – believed to contain the remains – after retrieving it from a tunnel in Khan Younis.
It comes as an Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages held in Gaza urged authorities on Tuesday to ‘act decisively’ against Hamas, accusing the group of violating the truce by returning only partial remains of a previously recovered captive.
Egyptian Committee teams and members of Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam Brigades take part in the search operations for the remains of Israeli hostages in the area where Israel carried out the ‘Arnon’ mission in June 2024 at the Nuseirat Refugee Camp
Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) wait near the Kissufim Border Gate in central Gaza to receive the bodies of around 60 Palestinians held by Israel, as part of the ceasefire and hostage – prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on October 15, 2025
Rescue teams and heavy machinery from Egypt move toward the city of Deir al-Balah through the Karem Abu Salem border crossing in Gaza on October 25, 2025
‘In light of Hamas’ severe breach of the agreement last night… the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations,’ the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Hamas handed over the remains of a deceased hostage on Monday as the Palestinian group came under increasing pressure to return its remaining deceased captives as promised under the Gaza ceasefire.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israeli forces had received a coffin containing what Hamas said was the sixteenth of 28 bodies of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attacks.
The Israeli military and security service were to take the coffin from Gaza to Israel, where it will be received in a military ceremony before being brought to the national forensic institute for identification and eventual return to the hostage’s family.
‘All of the hostages’ families have been updated accordingly, and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour. The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned,’ the statement said.
An informed source within Hamas confirmed the handover. ‘The body of an Israeli captive that was recovered today in the Gaza Strip has been handed over to the Red Cross,’ the source told AFP.
The latest exchange came as both senior Israeli officials and an association representing the families of the October 7 hostages demanded that Hamas speed up the transfer, which has slowed since it released its 20 living captives.
‘Hamas knows exactly where every one of the deceased hostages is held. Two weeks have passed since the deadline set in the agreement for the return of all 48 hostages, yet 13 remain in Hamas captivity,’ the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said.
‘The families urge the government of Israel, the United States administration and the mediators not to advance to the next phase of the agreement until Hamas fulfils all of its obligations and returns every hostage to Israel,’ the association said.
This handout picture released by the Israeli army shows the families of Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Avinatan Or, two of the former captives in Gaza since the 2023 October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants, watching their handover in a prisoner-hostage swap and a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Israel on October 13, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israeli forces had received a coffin containing what Hamas said was the sixteenth of 28 bodies of hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attacks
Palestinians watch as machinery and workers from Egypt search the rubble of damaged buildings for the bodies of hostages in the Hamad City area of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 27 October 2025
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem protested that the claim that the group knows the location of the remaining missing bodies is ‘false’, arguing that Israel’s bombardment during the two-year conflict had left locations unrecognisable.
‘We affirm our commitment to completing the first phase of the ceasefire agreement to prevent the occupation from finding any pretexts,’ he said, referring to Palestinians’ fears that Israel could renew military action despite the truce
‘We are determined to hand over the bodies of the Israeli captives as soon as possible,’ he said.
During their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage, most of whom had been released, rescued or recovered before this month’s ceasefire.
The attack itself resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,527 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
People walk through the al-Nafaq area of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, in Gaza City, Friday, Oct. 2
A man walks over the rubble of his three-story home destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas
Hamas says it is committed to the ceasefire and insists it is trying to return all the remaining bodies – 11 Israelis and two workers from Thailand and Tanzania – but that the search has been hampered by the destruction wrought on Gaza during the war.
In the past two days, Egypt has sent recovery crews and heavy earth-moving equipment into Gaza, with Israeli approval, to help with the recovery operation.
Israeli spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said a team of Red Cross staff, Egyptian rescuers and a Hamas member were searching for bodies and had been allowed to cross the so-called Yellow Line into the area of Gaza controlled by Israeli forces.
A Red Cross spokesperson also confirmed it was part of the search team.