Israel on Tuesday night launched "powerful strikes" on Gaza after accusing Hamas of faking its search for the remains of hostages.
Explosions were heard in Gaza city late on Tuesday, with strikes reported near Al Shifa Hospital. Civil defence workers said at least two people were dead in several attacks, in a major test of the October 10 ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to "immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip" after talks with security officials, his office said, as Israel claimed that Hamas had violated the truce.
Hamas said that it remains committed to the ceasefire agreement.
"This terrorist attack is a continuation of the series of violations committed over the past days, including assaults that resulted in martyrs and wounded, and the continued closure of the Rafah crossing," the group said in a release.
In one incident, the Israeli military accused Hamas of burying a body then staging a sham discovery shortly afterwards. Army drone footage was said to show Hamas operatives hiding the remains. Israel also accused Hamas of attacking its troops, although details were scant.
A new round of Israeli strikes would be the second major breach of the truce, after Israel launched attacks two weeks ago that killed 44 people. Israel blamed that on an incident in southern Gaza in which two troops were killed.
Hamas said it would postpone the latest return of hostage remains, warning that any Israeli escalation would only delay the process further. The group says it needs time to find the remains of hostages in the enclave, where Israeli troops are still operating and two years of war have left bodies buried under rubble.
An Egyptian search and rescue team entered Gaza at the weekend to offer help. But the Israeli military said Hamas was "attempting to create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies".
"Hamas will pay with compound interest for attacking the soldiers and violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages," Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
Mr Netanyahu's office said earlier that partial remains handed over on Tuesday night belonged to Israeli hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body had been returned in 2023. There was no immediate comment from Hamas or the Red Cross, which is mediating the handover of remains.
"This constitutes a clear violation of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist organisation," Mr Netanyahu's office said at the time. "Prime Minister Netanyahu will hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel's steps in response to the violations."
Under the ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump, Hamas was to hand over 20 surviving Israeli hostages – which the group has done – and the remains of 28. Israel was to turn over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every deceased Israeli returned. Officials in Gaza have said Israel has provided unidentified and mutilated remains, some of which have since been buried in a mass grave.
West Bank violence
Fears have also increased over Israeli ambitions in the occupied West Bank. Three people were shot dead by Israeli forces on Tuesday during a raid in the north of the territory. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the men as Abdullah Jalmana, 27, Qais Al Bitawi, 21, and AhmedNashti, 29.
Israeli forces stormed the village of Kafr Qud, besieged an area of farmland and shot the three men, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The army also bombed a vehicle belonging to the three men, setting it on fire along with olive trees, Wafa added.
The Israeli military said troops identified a “terrorist” cell inside a cave near Jenin, before firing on three militants as they emerged from the hideout. “Two terrorists were eliminated and one was injured. After a short while, the [air force] eliminated the additional terrorist,” the military said in a statement.
The joint operation on Tuesday was carried out by the military and the Israeli police's elite counter-terrorism unit Yamam.
Mr Katz praised the operation and warned that any attempt by extremist groups to rebuild infrastructure “will be crushed with an iron fist”.
“I have ordered the [military] to take all necessary measures, on the ground and from the air, to eliminate terrorist threats" in the West Bank, he added.
Hamas condemned the operation, calling it part of a “systematic policy of field killings”. The group said the shootings “add to the record of bloody crimes committed by the occupation against our people”.
Israel has increased military operations in the West Bank since the Gaza war began two years ago. Last winter, the military launched a large-scale campaign across several northern West Bank refugee camps that aimed to suppress Palestinian armed groups.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have since been displaced in the West Bank, where Israel has demolished dozens of homes and buildings.
