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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday helium has ordered the service to instantly transportation retired “powerful strikes” successful Gaza, and Hamas responded by saying it would hold handing implicit the assemblage of a hostage, putting caller unit connected the tenuous U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
The bid from Netanyahu follows heightened tensions, arsenic Israel reported Hamas firing connected its forces successful confederate Gaza and aft Hamas returned a acceptable of remains that Israel said belonged to a hostage recovered earlier successful the war.
Netanyahu called the instrumentality a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to instrumentality each Israeli hostage remains arsenic soon arsenic possible.
In different motion of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops were changeable astatine successful the confederate metropolis of Rafah connected Tuesday and returned fire, according to an Israeli subject authoritative who spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that determination hasn't been an authoritative announcement yet.
The ceasefire that began connected Oct. 10 has mostly held contempt astatine slightest 2 erstwhile flareups successful violence.
On Oct. 19, Israel said 2 Israeli soldiers were killed by Hamas fire. Israel responded with a bid of strikes that killed implicit 40 Palestinians, according to section wellness officials. And implicit the weekend, Israel carried retired an airstrike against what it said were Islamic Jihad militants readying an attack, wounding respective people.
There are inactive 13 bodies of hostages successful Gaza. Hamas said Tuesday it had recovered the assemblage of a hostage, but aft Israeli announced the plans to onslaught Gaza, Hamas said it successful a connection it would hold the handover.
An Associated Press videographer successful Khan Younis witnessed what appeared to beryllium a achromatic assemblage container being carried retired from a passageway by respective men, including immoderate masked militants, and past transported into an ambulance. It was not instantly wide what was successful the bag.
The dilatory instrumentality of hostages' bodies is posing a situation to implementing the adjacent stages of the ceasefire, which volition code adjacent knottier issues, specified arsenic the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an planetary information unit successful Gaza and deciding who volition govern the territory.
Hamas has said it is struggling to find the bodies amid the immense demolition successful Gaza, portion Israel has accused the militant radical of purposely delaying their return. Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a squad of experts and dense instrumentality to assistance hunt for the bodies of the remaining hostages. That enactment continued Tuesday successful Khan Younis and Nuseirat.
This is the 2nd clip since the ceasefire began connected Oct. 10 that remains turned implicit by Hamas person been problematic. Israel said 1 of the bodies Hamas released successful the archetypal week of the ceasefire belonged to an unidentified Palestinian.
During a erstwhile ceasefire successful February 2025, Hamas said it handed implicit the bodies of 3 hostages, Shiri Bibas and her 2 sons, but investigating showed that 1 of the bodies returned was identified arsenic a Palestinian woman. Shiri Bibas’ assemblage was returned a time later.
A stricken family
The remains returned overnight person been identified arsenic belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Netanyahu's bureau said.
Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova euphony festival successful the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught connected Israel that started the war. In all, the militants killed immoderate 1,200 radical that day, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Tzarfati was killed successful captivity and his assemblage was retrieved by Israeli troops successful November 2023. In March 2024, his household received further remains for burial.
Tzarfati's household said successful a connection that this is the 3rd clip “we person been forced to unfastened Ofir’s sedate and rebury our son.”
In speech for 15 dormant hostages returned from Gaza since the ceasefire began, Israel has handed backmost to Gaza 195 Palestinian bodies. The past 20 surviving hostages were returned to Israel astatine the commencement of the ceasefire, and successful exchange, Israel freed astir 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel kills 3 Palestinians successful a West Bank raid
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli authorities said they had killed 3 Palestinian militants aboriginal during an cognition successful the bluish portion of the occupied West Bank, the latest enactment successful Israel’s stepped-up subject enactment successful the territory since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack.
Israeli constabulary said the 3 men were changeable arsenic they came retired of a cave adjacent Jenin, a municipality successful the bluish West Bank known arsenic a militant stronghold. The Israeli subject said successful a connection that the militants “took portion successful panic enactment successful Jenin,” but gave nary further details.
Two militants were changeable and killed successful the archetypal volley of gunfire. The third, who was wounded, was killed soon after, according to the Israeli military.
An earlier connection said the Israeli subject carried retired an airstrike soon afterward to destruct the cave. The service confirmed an airstrike successful the country but gave nary further details.
Hamas condemned the Jenin onslaught and aboriginal identified 2 of the 3 men arsenic militants with Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The 3rd antheral was referred to arsenic a “comrade,” but nary further details astir him were given.
Israel says its operations person cracked down connected militants successful the West Bank. But Palestinians and quality rights groups accidental scores of uninvolved civilians person besides been among the dead, portion tens of thousands of radical person been displaced from their homes.
Over 68,500 Palestinians person died successful the two-year warfare successful Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t separate betwixt civilians and combatants successful its count. The ministry maintains elaborate casualty records that are seen arsenic mostly reliable by U.N. agencies and autarkic experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its ain toll.
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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Renata Brito successful Jerusalem and Menelaos Hadjicostis successful Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s warfare sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
