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Israel launches renewed strikes in Gaza less than 3 weeks into Trump's ceasefire deal

Hamas members carry a body retrieved from a tunnel in an area north of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Israel accused Hamas of staging its search for the remains of a Gaza hostage body.
Bashar Taleb
/
AFP via Getty Images
Hamas members carry a body retrieved from a tunnel in an area north of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Israel accused Hamas of staging its search for the remains of a Gaza hostage body.

Updated October 28, 2025 at 1:54 PM MDT

The Israeli military began carrying out renewed strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, less than three weeks after President Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Gaza's civil defense agency said there were initial reports of several people killed and injured in Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Younis.

The attacks came as Israel and Hamas traded accusations of violating the ceasefire deal that began Oct. 10.

"Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip," the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an online statement.

Netanyahu's announcement followed his meeting with senior security ministers to discuss a response to what Israel said was Hamas' attempt to stage the return of the partial remains of a hostage whose body the militants were supposed to hand over under the terms of the ceasefire. Israel said it had already located most of the remains earlier in the war.

The Israeli military released drone footage that it said showed Hamas operatives burying a bag with remains in the ground so that the International Committee of the Red Cross could "find" them. Netanyahu called the move a "clear violation" of the U.S.-negotiated ceasefire.

Hamas said in a statement that Israel's allegations are "baseless and aimed at misleading public opinion." It said, "The occupation is seeking to fabricate false pretexts in preparation for taking new aggressive steps against our people, in blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement."

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Hamas would "pay a heavy price for attacking" Israeli troops in Gaza and failing to return deceased hostages.

On Oct. 19, the Israeli military carried out a series of airstrikes in Gaza after two of its soldiers were killed in Rafah. After those Israeli strikes, dozens of people, Trump said the ceasefire was still in place.

Hamas said it had "no connection" to the shooting of Israeli soldiers in Rafah. It said it would stick to the ceasefire and called on mediators to "take immediate action" to press Israel to stop its attacks in violation of the agreement.

This is a developing story that may be updated.

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NPR's International Desk