A body was recovered in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis on Tuesday (October 28) during ongoing efforts to locate hostages taken by Hamas during its October 2023 assault on southern Israel.

Footage obtained by Reuters showed masked Hamas militants entering a tunnel before emerging with a body on a stretcher and transferring it to an ambulance as onlookers applauded near the excavation site.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it had planned to hand over the recovered body on Tuesday but decided to postpone the transfer, accusing Israel of violating the fragile ceasefire currently in place. The group warned that renewed Israeli attacks would “hinder search and recovery operations” and delay the return of the remains of Israeli soldiers.

The announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out what he called “forceful strikes” on Gaza, alleging that Hamas had breached the ceasefire by attacking Israeli forces in an area under Israeli control. His office did not specify the details of the incident, but an Israeli military official confirmed that a ceasefire violation had occurred.

Earlier, Netanyahu said DNA tests had shown that remains handed over on Monday belonged to a hostage recovered earlier in the conflict, and not to one of the 13 people still listed as missing.

In response, Hamas claimed it had abided by the truce and accused Israel of seeking pretexts to resume large-scale military operations. “Netanyahu is looking for excuses to back away from Israel’s obligations,” the group said in a statement on Telegram.

The developments come as tensions remain high in Gaza, where sporadic clashes and mutual accusations threaten to unravel the three-week-old ceasefire agreement mediated by international partners.

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