Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said Israel carried out airstrikes on Tuesday despite an ongoing ceasefire after the Israeli military accused Hamas of attacking its troops and violating a US-brokered ceasefire.
At least 30 people were killed in attacks targeting several parts of Gaza, a spokesman for the agency, which acts as a rescue force under Hamas, said.
But US Vice President JD Vance said the truce was standing despite Tuesday’s “scuffles”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “strong strikes” on Gaza, his office said, as Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Hamas of attacking Israeli troops in Gaza.
“Today’s attack by Hamas on IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers in Gaza is a clear red line crossing to which the IDF will respond with great force,” Katz said in a statement.
While Katz did not say where the soldiers were attacked, Hamas said its fighters had “no connection to the shooting incident in Rafah”.
In comments broadcast on Fox News and posted on social media by the White House, Vance said the ceasefire was standing.
“That doesn’t mean there won’t be little skirmishes,” said the vice president, one of several top US officials who rushed to Israel last week to support a fragile truce brokered by President Donald Trump.
“We know that Hamas or someone else in Gaza attacked an IDF soldier. We expect the Israelis to respond – but I think the president’s peace will hold,” he added.
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Strikes on Gaza
Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said at least three strikes were carried out, while the area’s main Al-Shifa hospital said one hit its backyard.
Five people were killed when their vehicle was hit by an airstrike, the agency said.
Hamas said it would hand over the body of another hostage on Tuesday, as required by Israel as part of the cease-fire agreement.
During the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war, Hamas militants took 251 people hostage.
A dispute over the last remaining bodies of the deceased hostages threatened to derail the ceasefire.
Israel blames Hamas for not returning them, but the Palestinian Islamist group says it will take time to find the remains amid Gaza’s war-ravaged ruins.
Hamas later said it would postpone Tuesday’s handover, adding that Israel’s “escalation will hinder the search, excavation and recovery of bodies.”
In another statement on Telegram, Hamas’ armed wing said it had found the bodies of two hostages on Tuesday.
It did not say when it would hand them over.
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‘We want to rest’
Hamas has come under increasing pressure after it returned the partial remains of a previously captured prisoner on Monday, in what Israel said was a ceasefire violation.
Hamas said the remains were the 16th of the 28 bodies of hostages agreed to be returned under a ceasefire deal that took effect on October 10.
But according to Netanyahu’s office, an Israeli judicial review found that Hamas had in fact handed over the partial remains of a hostage whose body had already been brought back to Israel about two years ago.
Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrosian accused Hamas of staging the discovery of the remains.
“I can confirm to you today that Hamas dug a hole in the ground yesterday, placed the partial remains… inside, covered them with dirt and handed them over to the Red Cross,” she told reporters.
The Forum of Hostages and Missing Families called on the government to “take decisive action against these rights violations” and accused Hamas of knowing the location of the missing hostages.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem rejected claims the group knew where the remaining bodies were, saying Israeli bombing during the two-year war had left the sites unrecognizable.
“Third Set of Remains”
“The movement is committed to handing over the bodies of Israeli prisoners as soon as possible once they are located,” he told AFP.
Hamas has already returned all 20 living hostages as agreed in the cease-fire deal.
A Hamas attack in October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to AFP statistics based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza killed at least 68,531 people, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
Despite the ceasefire, the toll continues to rise as more bodies are found under the rubble.
Abdul-Hayy al-Hajj Ahmed, 60, told AFP at the scene in Gaza that he feared the war would start again because of increasing pressure on Hamas.
“Now they’re accusing Hamas of stopping, and that’s a pretext for renewed escalation and war,” he said.
“We want to rest. I believe the war will return.”
