The Israeli-Hamas truce appears to be on its shakiest ground yet: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he has ordered the army to immediately carry out "powerful strikes" in Gaza, per the AP. In response, Hamas said it would delay handing over the body of a hostage. The ceasefire that began on Oct. 10 has largely held despite at least two previous flareups in violence, but the new tensions are testing it.
On Monday night, Hamas handed over what it said were the remains of another hostage, but Israel conducted forensic tests and found that the remains belonged to a hostage who had been recovered two years ago, per the BBC. Netanyahu called the incident a "clear violation" of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to return all Israeli hostage remains as soon as possible. In another sign of the ceasefire's fragility, an Israeli military official said Israeli troops were shot at in the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday and returned fire.
The slow pace of the return of remains is posing a challenge to implementing the next stages of the ceasefire, which will address even knottier issues, such as the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, and deciding who will govern the territory. The AP reports that the bodies of 13 hostages remain, and after Netanyahu's new order, Hamas said it would postpone returning a newly recovered one.