Netanyahu Orders “Powerful Strikes” on Gaza After Hamas Ceasefire Breach Sparks Fresh Tensions

In a dramatic turn of events that threatens to unravel weeks of tense negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to launch “powerful strikes” on Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

The move came shortly after Hamas announced it would delay the handover of another hostage’s remains, citing what it called Israeli violations of the truce. The fragile calm that had barely held since early October now appears to be on the brink of collapse, again.

“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” read a statement from his office on Tuesday. The trigger? A grim dispute over hostage remains. Under the truce deal, Hamas had agreed to return the remains of 28 Israeli hostages. On Monday night, the group handed over what it claimed was the 16th set of remains. But forensic tests in Israel told a different story, showing that the remains belonged to a hostage already recovered two years ago, the late Ofir Tzarfati.

This revelation infuriated Israeli officials and families of hostages, who saw it as a deliberate violation of the ceasefire terms. Netanyahu’s office condemned the act as “a clear violation of the agreement,” while the Hostages and Missing Families Forum called for an immediate and decisive response. “In light of Hamas’s severe breach… the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this,” the forum said in a statement.

Hamas, however, pushed back, accusing Israel of falsely staging incidents to justify fresh military action. The militant group’s spokesperson, Hazem Qassem, insisted that Hamas was still locating the bodies of Israeli captives but that the chaos from Israel’s bombings had made recovery efforts nearly impossible. “The movement is determined to hand over the bodies as soon as possible once they are located,” Qassem told AFP, adding that Israel’s repeated airstrikes had “rendered many locations unrecognisable.”

At the same time, Gaza’s health ministry claimed that at least 94 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began, accusing Israel of hypocrisy and provocation.

“Nothing Is Off the Table”

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told journalists that Israel’s response would be in full coordination with Washington, particularly with US President Donald Trump’s administration, which brokered the truce. “In terms of consequences for Hamas, nothing is off the table right now,” Bedrosian said, accusing Hamas of planting Tzarfati’s remains to stage a deception.

“I can confirm to you today that Hamas dug a hole in the ground yesterday, placed the partial remains of Ofir inside of it, covered it back up with dirt, and handed it over to the Red Cross,” she said, a claim Hamas vehemently denied.

Few moments encapsulate the emotional toll of this conflict like the story of Ofir Tzarfati. Tzarfati was one of the many young people attending the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants stormed across the border, killing 1,221 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages. His body was recovered later that year, but in an agonizing twist, his remains have now been returned three times, first in December 2023, again in March 2024, and now once more under the latest ceasefire deal.

“This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son,” his family said through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “The circle supposedly closed back in December 2023, but it never truly closes.” It’s a chilling reminder that, even in ceasefire, the pain of loss never rests.

In Gaza, residents fear the worst.
“Now they accuse Hamas of stalling, and that is a pretext for renewed escalation and war,” said Abdul-Hayy al-Hajj Ahmed, a 60-year-old resident. “We want to rest. I believe the war will come back.” Those fears are not unfounded. Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, known for his hardline stance, wasted no time calling for full retaliation. “It is time to break its legs once and for all,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Meanwhile, international mediators are scrambling to preserve what’s left of the fragile truce, but with both sides trading accusations of bad faith, the prospect of peace feels increasingly distant.

The humanitarian toll of this conflict continues to grow. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, at least 68,531 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its assault on Gaza following the October 7 attacks, figures the United Nations considers credible. Even amid the ceasefire, bodies continue to be discovered under the rubble, and the list of the dead keeps growing. For Netanyahu, whose political standing has long been tied to national security, the pressure to act decisively is immense. Yet every new strike risks deepening a conflict that has already scarred generations.

The truce that once held a glimmer of hope for both Israelis and Palestinians now appears to be hanging by a thread. What began as a humanitarian pause designed to exchange hostages and allow aid into Gaza has devolved into a fresh round of mutual recriminations, renewed bombardments, and renewed grief. As both sides claim the other is sabotaging peace, one question looms large: How many more cycles of ceasefire and retaliation can the region endure before lasting peace becomes impossible?

The events of this week underscore the fragile nature of peace in the Middle East, a peace that can shatter in an instant over mistrust, miscommunication, or misdeeds. Netanyahu’s “powerful strikes” may satisfy domestic calls for justice, but they also risk plunging Gaza and Israel into yet another dark chapter of this decades-long saga.

For families like the Tzarfatis, and for civilians on both sides of the border, the message is painfully clear: wars may end on paper, but their wounds linger forever.

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