BREAKING: Netanyahu Orders ‘Forceful Strikes’ in Gaza After Hamas’ Violation of Ceasefire Pact 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered “forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip” after Hamas’ violation of the hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas.  

The order comes after Netanyahu met with the leaders of Israel’s security establishment to determine a response to Hamas’ failure to return the remains of deceased hostages.  

On Monday night, Hamas said it handed over the remains of a former Israeli hostage. Israel quickly determined the remains did not belong to one of the 13 hostages still in Gaza, but to Ofir Tzarfati, whose body the Israel Defense Forces recovered in Gaza in 2023.  

Israel and Hamas agreed in early October to a ceasefire based on President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for the region. The plan required Hamas to return all living and deceased hostages within days of the deal being signed. While all 20 of the living hostages were released on Oct. 13, Hamas has only returned the remains of 15 other hostages, leaving 13 still in Gaza.  

Israel has accused Hamas of slow-walking the return of the deceased hostages and, according to The Times of Israel, Israeli intelligence has identified the location of nine of the deceased hostages still in Gaza.  

“Despite claiming difficulty locating the bodies of deceased hostages, Hamas continues to hold and manipulate the remains it refuses to release under the agreement,” the IDF wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.  

Hamas has claimed it lacks proper equipment to locate the remains of some of those hostages, but the IDF calls the claim “baseless,” contending that “such tools are unnecessary for the transfer of remains and do not prevent the return of the deceased hostages.”  

Hamas announced plans Tuesday to hand over the remains of a hostage later in the day, but, following Israel’s announcement of a response to Hamas’ violations, said it would “postpone” the handover “due to violations by the occupation.”

“We emphasize that any Zionist escalation will hinder search, digging, and retrieval operations of the bodies, which will lead to a delay in the occupation recovering the bodies of its dead,” Hamas said, according to reporting from author and pro-Israel advocate Aviva Klompas.

Trump has previous said he would consider giving Israel the green light to resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not uphold the terms of the ceasefire agreement and hostage deal.   

The escalation in Hamas’ failure to return all hostage remains is not the first time the ceasefire agreement has been violated. Israel carried out strike on targets in Gaza on Oct. 19 after it said Hamas had killed two IDF soldiers in an Israeli-controlled section of Gaza. Yet the ceasefire resumed and has continued to hold.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

The post BREAKING: Netanyahu Orders ‘Forceful Strikes’ in Gaza After Hamas’ Violation of Ceasefire Pact  appeared first on The Daily Signal.