Netanyahu orders "powerful strikes" on Gaza threatening fragile ceasefire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare "powerful strikes" in Gaza on Tuesday, while Hamas announced it would delay returning a hostage's body, pushing a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that began on October 10 to the brink of collapse and threatening a return to all-out war.

The order came after Israel declared that Hamas had committed a "clear violation" of the ceasefire by failing to promptly return all hostage remains.

In a direct response, Hamas stated it would now delay the handover of a body it had recovered.

This escalation follows an incident where Israeli troops were shot at in Rafah, and comes after a previous flare-up on October 19, when the killing of two Israeli soldiers led to retaliatory strikes that Gaza health officials said killed over 40 Palestinians.

The contentious issue of hostage remains

The slow and problematic process of returning bodies is a major obstacle.

Hamas claims it is struggling to locate remains amid Gaza's devastation, while Israel accuses it of deliberate delay.

With 13 bodies still in Gaza, this issue jeopardizes the next phases of the truce. Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has returned 15 dead hostages, and in exchange, Israel has handed back 195 Palestinian bodies. The initial phase saw 20 living hostages freed for roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

West Bank violence and mounting toll

In a separate incident, Israeli forces killed three Hamas militants in a raid near Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The ongoing conflict's staggering human cost was further underscored, with Gaza's Health Ministry reporting over 68,500 Palestinian deaths in the two-year war, a figure considered reliable by international observers.

The 2023 Hamas-led attack that started the war killed approximately 1,200 Israelis.