Blasts have been heard in Gaza after Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to carry out “powerful” strikes.
Witnesses report the sound of explosions and tanks firing in Gaza City and other parts of Gaza.
It comes after Mr Netanyahu accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire in the territory by handing over remains that were of an Israeli hostage who was already recovered.
A statement from the prime minister’s office said: “Following the security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military echelon to carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately.”
Hamas today said that it would postpone the planned handover of a body of a hostage it had recovered, claiming violations of the US-backed ceasefire by Israel.
The announcement of strikes came shortly after Israel said that Hamas had opened fire on its forces in southern Gaza today.
In a sign of the fragility of the three-week old ceasefire, Israeli troops were shot at in the city of Rafah, and returned fire, according to an Israeli military official.
An Israeli military official told Sky’s Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons that Hamas have “shown their true face”.
The official told him: “Hamas violated the ceasefire once again, carrying out an attack against IDF forces east to the yellow line, an area under Israeli control.
“This is yet another blatant violation of the ceasefire. This comes after Hamas has also shown their true face and the fact that are pretending to not know where the remaining hostages are.”
Hamas militants carry a white bag believed to contain a body retrieved from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Tuesday. Pic: AP
Hamas said on the Telegram messaging app that any Israeli escalation of attacks in Gaza would hinder search and recovery operations, and delay the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers.
There are thought to be 13 bodies of hostages still in Gaza.
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All 20 living hostages have already been freed in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, but the remains of the dead have been slow to be repatriated.
Hamas has said there are problems finding them due to a lack of equipment to sift through the devastation and rubble in Gaza.
The search for hostage bodies had been stepped up over the past few days after the arrival of heavy machinery from Egypt.
Bulldozers were working in Khan Younis, and further north in Nuseirat, with Hamas fighters deployed around them.
Some of the bodies are believed to be in Hamas’ network of tunnels below Gaza.
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