In a brazen act of defiance, the Hamas terror organization declared Tuesday night that it would not hand over the body of an Israeli hostage it had murdered, claiming its decision was a response to what it called Israel’s “violations” of the ceasefire.
Earlier in the day, Hamas gunmen broke the truce by firing on IDF forces stationed in Rafah, prompting Israeli troops to respond with gunfire and targeted artillery strikes against the terrorist group’s positions in southern Gaza.
After holding urgent security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the IDF to “immediately carry out forceful strikes” across the Gaza Strip, ordering a swift and powerful response to the renewed aggression and the terror group’s blatant breach of the ceasefire deal.
Just hours before the attack, Hamas had announced plans to return the body of a slain hostage at 8 p.m. that evening, in accordance with the terms of the temporary agreement. That promise, however, was abruptly rescinded following their new wave of hostilities.
Adding to the growing outrage, the IDF earlier on Tuesday released video footage revealing that Hamas terrorists had secretly buried body parts belonging to murdered hostage Ofir Tzarfati — whose body had already been brought back to Israel in a rescue operation two years prior. After burying the remains, the gunmen staged a fake “discovery” and passed them to Israel through the Red Cross to falsely suggest compliance with the deal.
Under the existing ceasefire arrangement, Hamas was obligated to return every hostage, living or deceased, within 72 hours. While the group has so far released 20 living captives, only 15 of the 28 murdered hostages have been returned. Thirteen bodies remain in Gaza, held by Hamas in ongoing violation of the agreement.
They are testing Trump to see his reaction