Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed at least nine people after Israel accused Hamas of violating the US-brokered ceasefire deal and staging the discovery of a deceased hostage.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out “immediate, powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” his office announced, a decision that was communicated to the US.
The Israeli military claimed that Hamas attacked Israeli troops with RPG and sniper fire east of the “yellow line” in the Rafah area of southern Gaza. Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that Hamas would pay a “heavy price” for the attack on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and vowed a response “with great force
Earlier on Tuesday, October 28, Netanyahu’s office said Hamas was in “clear violation” of the ceasefire after returning remains to Israel that did not belong to any of the 13 hostages still unaccounted for.
Adding to the controversy, the IDF released a drone video that it claims shows Hamas operatives burying a body wrapped in a white cloth in Gaza City and then staging its discovery in front of the Red Cross.
The nearly 15-minute clip appears to show three men dragging the shroud, covering it with dirt, and then uncovering it moments later as Red Cross officials arrive on the scene. The military asserted this was an attempt by Hamas to “create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies” of the remaining deceased hostages.
The Red Cross responded by saying its team was “not aware that a deceased person had been placed there prior to their arrival,” calling the staged recovery “unacceptable” when so many families are anxiously waiting for news. The organization stated it agreed to operate as an intermediary “in good faith” despite the challenging situation in Gaza.
Following Israel’s decision to carry out new strikes, the armed wing of Hamas announced it would postpone the handover of a hostage’s body recovered in southern Gaza, citing Israel’s “violations.”
The militant group warned that any Israeli escalation would “hinder search and excavation operations and the retrieval of bodies” of the deceased Israeli hostages.
Hamas had been scheduled to transfer the remains of a deceased hostage pulled from a tunnel in Khan Younis.
The recovery of a second body in Nuseirat, found in the rubble of a building from an Israeli rescue operation in June 2024, has also raised fresh questions, as the location has been geolocated to the same building, despite Israel and the US denying that hostages were killed during that mission.
Despite the bloodshed and accusations, US Vice President JD Vance insisted the ceasefire was still holding and that the president had achieved a “historic peace” in the Middle East, adding, “That doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be little skirmishes here and there.”
