Middle East: Israel to renew ceasefire after targets hit

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had bombed "terrorist infrastructure" in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, saying weapons were being stockpiled for "an imminent terror attack" against Israel.

It comes a day after Israel launched a wave of bombings in Gaza following the death of one of its soldiers in the enclave.

"A short while ago, the IDF conducted a precise strike in the area of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip targeting a terrorist infrastructure site where weapons and aerial means were stored, intended to be used for the execution of an imminent terror attack against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel," a military statement said.

The army has said it would remain deployed in "accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat."

Gaza's Hamas-run civil defense agency told the AFP news agency that one Palestinian was killed in the latest strike.

The United Nations human rights office on Wednesday condemned fresh Palestinian civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip following Israeli strikes in response to the death of an Israeli soldier, calling the developments "appalling."

Palestinian health authorities say over 100 were killed in the latest strikes.

UN Rights chief Volker Turk urged all sides not to let peace "slip from our grasp." 

"Reports that over 100 Palestinians were killed overnight in a wave of Israeli airstrikes mainly on residential buildings, IDP (internally-displaced people) tents and schools across the Gaza Strip, following the death of an Israeli soldier, are appalling," he said in a statement.

Turk said the attacks had reportedly hit schools, homes and tents housing internally displaced people.

"The laws of war are very clear on the paramount importance of protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure," the UN official added. He urged Israel to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian laws and stressed that it would be held accountable for any violations.

Turk called for all parties in the conflict to act in good faith and implement the ceasefire.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani condemned on Wednesday an attack on Israeli soldiers in Gaza and the consequent Israeli strikes on the Palestinian enclave, describing them as "very disappointing and frustrating for us to see." 

"Fortunately, I think the main parties — both of them — are acknowledging that the ceasefire should hold and that they should stick to the agreement," Al Thani told the Council on Foreign Relations during a visit to New York. "We have seen that the US is also committed to the deal, so the ceasefire still holds as of now."

The Qatari prime minister told the council that Hamas militants have been clear on their willingness to give up governance in Gaza, adding that Doha, a key mediator in the conflict alongside the United States and Egypt, has been trying to push them to acknowledge they need to disarm.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has set off on a four-day trip to the Middle East, where he is to visit Jordan, Lebanon and Bahrain.

Ahead of his departure, Wadephul, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU party, expressed "deep concern" over Israel's strikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, which Israel said was in response to a Hamas attack on its troops.

"We appeal to Israel to exercise military restraint in order to prevent further suffering," Wadephul said.

The German foreign minister will begin his trip in Jordan, which he praised for its "valuable, constructive and mediating role" in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

"As a hub for humanitarian aid, Jordan has made enormous efforts in recent years to help supply the people of Gaza — even when the suffering was its greatest," he said.

After talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Wadephul will head to Lebanon, where he will meet with senior Lebanese politicians and call on the militant group Hezbollah to lay down its weapons in the interests of regional peace.

Finally, on Saturday, Wadephul will finish his trip in Manama, Bahrain, where he will take part in the so-called Manama Dialogue, a regional security forum

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has criticized Hamas for the staged unearthing of what it said was the remains of a new hostage, rather than what Israeli media report was the partial remains of a body already returned in 2023. 

"It is unacceptable that a fake recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement being upheld and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones," the ICRC said in a statement.

The group said it had accepted an invitation from Hamas to attend the recovery "in good faith in its role as a neutral intermediary between the parties," and said its staff were not aware of any attempt at deception.

It acknowledged the video released by the Israeli military showing the remains being buried at the scene prior to the obrservers' arrival.

"Our team only observed what appeared to be the recovery of remains without prior knowledge of the circumstances leading up to it," the ICRC said, adding that the agency was communicating directly with the parties.

"We urgently reiterate our call for human remains to be handled in a dignified manner that upholds international humanitarian law obligations, as well as forensic standards. The return of human remains to their loved ones should never be political," the Red Cross said. 

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it intends to restore the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after dozens of strikes in the enclave in what it says was retaliation for a deadly attack on Israeli troops.

Medical sources cited by the dpa news agency reported that 91 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attacks, the most since the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas came into effect on October 10. 

Israel claimed that its forces struck several Hamas targets after Israeli soldiers were attacked, and one killed, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has denied responsibility for the attack on Israeli troops.

Hamas said it had recovered the bodies of two more hostages in the Gaza Strip. 

The militant group's armed wing made the announcement late Tuesday on its Telegram channel, also releasing the names of the two hostages.

Israeli media typically do not publish the names of hostages until the bodies have formally identified and families have been informed.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hamas said it would postpone the planned handover of another body amid the escalation of attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said that renewed Israeli attacks were hampering searches.

Israel carried out new airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, nearly three weeks after a ceasefire began in the conflict.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the government was responding to a Hamas attack on Israeli soldiers, as well as delays in the agreed handover of hostages' remains.

Israeli jets launched strikes in Gaza on Tuesday after Israel accused Hamas of violating their cease-fire agreement.

According to local health authorities, the strikes killed at least 26 people. The ceasefire deal brokered earlier this month by US President Donald Trump now appears to be hanging by a thread.

Witnesses reported attacks by Israeli planes across the strip into early Wednesday.

The latest attacks followed a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office saying he had ordered immediate "powerful attacks."

The US-backed ceasefire agreement went into effect on October 10, pausing two years of open war sparked by the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Both sides have accused each other of violations of the agreement.

US Vice President JD Vance said the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip is holding despite Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaches.

"The ceasefire is holding. That doesn't mean that there aren't going to be skirmishes here and there," Vance said.

According to Vance, the US expected Israel to react due to "Hamas or somebody else within Gaza" attacking an Israeli soldier.

"I think the President's peace is going to hold despite that," he concluded.

The US-brokered ceasefire took effect on October 10, ending two years of war sparked by deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October. 7, 2023, and leaving Gaza devastated.

At least two people were killed and four were injured in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defense agency said.

According to an agency spokesman, a child and an infant are among the injured.

The strike took place in the southern part of the city of Gaza.

The Israeli military have launched strikes on Gaza.

News agency AFP said three attacks took place in the enclave, citing Gaza's civil defense, while Reuters also reported attacks.

Associated Press reporters and witnesses heard tank fire and saw explosions in various parts of Gaza, including in Gaza City and Deir
al-Balah.

This comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened a "powerful" response to alleged Hamas ceasefire violations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered "powerful strikes" to be carried out in the Gaza Strip "immediately," his office announced.

The statement comes after the prime minister held talks with security heads to discuss Israel's response to Hamas "violations" of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli media reported an exchange of fire in southern Gaza. 

The militants also returned a set of remains that Israel said belonged to a hostage recovered earlier in the war.

Netanyahu called the return a "clear violation."

Hamas's armed wing said it was postponing the handover of another hostage's body scheduled for Tuesday evening. 

The Islamist militant group Hamas on Tuesday said it would return a further hostage body to Israeli authorities after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of violating a ceasefire agreement after it was discovered that remains turned over prior were not those of whom Hamas said they were but rather another hostage recovered by Israeli forces in 2023.

Of the 251 individuals taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the bodies of 13 still remain in Hamas's hands.

Hamas said the body to be returned on Tuesday belongs to a hostage who was buried in a tunnel.

Hamas has claimed to be acting in good faith in returning the bodies and accuses Israel of looking for ways to back out of its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.

Though Hamas says it intends to turn over all remains, it claims the search has become increasingly difficult due to the extensive damage caused by Israel's two-year military campaign in Gaza.   

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel's IDF released a video on X claiming to show nefarious Hamas activity designed to dupe international observers regarding the difficulty of locating and recovering the bodies.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday released a video on X, which it says provides evidence that the militant group Hamas has misrepresented the location of hostage remains in Gaza.

According to the IDF, the footage shows three individuals with shovels, whom the IDF identifies as Hamas members, alongside a person the IDF claims is a Red Cross employee. The video appears to depict the individuals removing what the IDF describes as a hostage's body from a nearby building and burying it at a nearby site. Later, the body is shown being unearthed by another individual operating a wheel-loader, after which the Red Cross employee is reportedly brought in to document the scene.

The IDF alleges that the sequence was staged to mislead observers into believing the body had just been discovered.

Text accompanying the video, which has not been independently verified, accuses Hamas of intentionally obscuring the locations of hostage remains to influence ceasefire negotiations.

Israel has reacted angrily to news that the human remains authorities recently received from Hamas were not those of a further person taken hostage by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, but rather, they belonged to the dead body of another hostage that Israeli forces had already recovered some two years ago.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office called the incident a "clear violation of the [ceasefire] agreement."

Netanyahu said Tuesday that he will "hold a security discussion with the heads of the security establishment to discuss Israel's steps in response."

Among Israel's possible responses are the denial of humanitarian aid deliveries, expanded control over Gaza or targeting Hamas leadership with airstrikes.

The ceasefire agreement obliges Hamas to return the human remains of all 13 hostages in its control as soon as possible.

Hamas insists the problem is that hostage bodies are buried under tons of rubble, making them hard to find. Israel says the militant Muslims are simply dragging their feet.

The group Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli government to take action, saying, "In light of Hamas's severe breach of the agreement last night ... the Israeli government cannot and must not ignore this, and must act decisively against these violations.

"Hamas knows the location of the hostages and continues to act with contempt, deceiving the United States and mediators while dishonoring our loved ones."