The Hamas terrorist organization announced that it would not return the body of an Israeli hostage who it murdered this evening in response to what it called Israel's "violations" of the ceasefire.
Earlier today (Tuesday), Hamas terrorists violated the ceasefire by shooting at IDF troops in the Rafah area. The IDF returned fire and launched artillery strikes.
Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu has directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the latest attack and ceasefire violation by Hamas.
Hamas had stated earlier that it would return the body of a murdered hostage at 8 pm this evening.
Earlier Tuesday, the IDF released footage showing Hamas operatives burying remains belonging to murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati, whose body had been returned to Israel in a military operation two years ago. After burying the remains, the terrorists staged their “discovery” of them and handed them over to Israel through the Red Cross.
Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas was required to return all hostages in its possession within 72 hours. The group released all 20 living hostages it held, but not all of the deceased. So far, Hamas has returned 15 of the 28 fallen hostages held in Gaza before the deal, leaving 13 bodies still in the Strip.