By MELANIE LIDMAN, Related Press
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Tuesday he has ordered the military to instantly perform “highly effective strikes” in Gaza, a brand new check for the tenuous U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
The order from Netanyahu follows heightened tensions, as Israel reported Hamas firing on its forces in southern Gaza and after Hamas returned a set of stays that Israel mentioned belonged to a hostage recovered earlier within the struggle.
Netanyahu known as the return a “clear violation” of the ceasefire settlement, which requires Hamas to return all Israeli hostage stays as quickly as doable.
In an indication of the fragility of the ceasefire, Israeli troops had been shot at within the southern metropolis of Rafah on Tuesday and returned hearth, in keeping with an Israeli navy official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of there hasn’t been an official announcement but.
There are nonetheless 13 our bodies of hostages in Gaza. Hamas mentioned Tuesday it has recovered the physique of a hostage that it plans at hand over this night.
An Related Press videographer in Khan Younis witnessed what seemed to be a white physique bag being carried out from a tunnel by a number of males, together with some masked fighters, after which transported into an ambulance. It was not instantly clear what was within the bag.
The sluggish return of hostages’ our bodies is posing a problem to implementing the subsequent phases of the ceasefire, which is able to handle even knottier points, such because the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of a world safety drive in Gaza and deciding who will govern the territory.
Hamas has mentioned it’s struggling to find the our bodies amid the huge destruction in Gaza, whereas Israel has accused the group of purposely delaying their return. Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a workforce of specialists and heavy gear to assist seek for the our bodies of the remaining hostages. That work continued Tuesday in Khan Younis and Nuseirat.
That is the second time because the ceasefire started on Oct. 10 that is still turned over by Hamas have been problematic. Israel mentioned one of many our bodies Hamas launched within the first week of the ceasefire belonged to an unidentified Palestinian.
Throughout a earlier ceasefire in February 2025, Hamas mentioned it handed over the our bodies of three hostages, Shiri Bibas and her two sons, however testing confirmed that one of many our bodies returned was recognized as a Palestinian girl. Shiri Bibas’ physique was returned a day later.
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Palestinians watch as Egyptian equipment and staff seek for the our bodies of hostages in Hamad Metropolis, Khan Younis, within the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Picture/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Palestinians watch as Egyptian equipment and staff seek for the our bodies of hostages in Hamad Metropolis, Khan Younis, within the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (AP Picture/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A stricken household
The stays returned in a single day have been recognized as belonging to Ofir Tzarfati, Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned.
Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music pageant within the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on Israel that began the struggle. In all, the fighters killed some 1,200 those that day, principally civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Tzarfati was killed in captivity and his physique was retrieved by Israeli troops in November 2023. In March 2024, his household acquired extra stays for burial.
Tzarfati’s household mentioned in a press release that that is the third time “we have now been pressured to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son.”
In change for 15 useless hostages returned from Gaza because the ceasefire started, Israel has handed again to Gaza 195 Palestinian our bodies. The final 20 residing hostages had been returned to Israel firstly of the ceasefire, and in change, Israel freed roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Israel kills 3 Palestinians in a West Financial institution raid
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli authorities mentioned they’d killed three Palestinian fighters early throughout an operation within the northern a part of the occupied West Financial institution, the most recent motion in Israel’s stepped-up navy exercise within the territory because the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas assault.
Israeli police mentioned the three males had been shot as they got here out of a cave close to Jenin, a city within the northern West Financial institution referred to as a combatant stronghold. The Israeli navy mentioned in a press release that the fighters “took half in terror exercise in Jenin,” however gave no additional particulars.
Two fighters had been shot and killed within the preliminary volley of gunfire. The third, who was wounded, was killed shortly after, in keeping with the Israeli navy.
An earlier assertion mentioned the Israeli navy carried out an airstrike shortly afterward to destroy the cave. The military confirmed an airstrike within the space however gave no additional particulars.
Hamas condemned the Jenin strike and later recognized two of the three males as fighters with Hamas’ Qassam Brigades. The third man was known as a “comrade,” however no extra particulars about him got.
Israel says its operations have cracked down on combatants within the West Financial institution. However Palestinians and human rights teams say scores of uninvolved civilians have additionally been among the many useless, whereas tens of 1000’s of individuals have been displaced from their houses.
Over 68,500 Palestinians have died within the two-year struggle in Gaza, in keeping with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its rely. The ministry maintains detailed casualty information which are seen as usually dependable by U.N. companies and impartial specialists. Israel has disputed them with out offering its personal toll.
Related Press writers Josef Federman and Renata Brito in Jerusalem and Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.
Observe AP’s struggle protection at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war