Netanyahu Orders ‘Forceful Strikes’ on Gaza, Threatening Fragile Cease-Fire

Israel has resumed airstrikes on Gaza at the direction of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, raising fears that the fragile cease-fire with Hamas could collapse. Following a round of security consultations, Netanyahu “directed the military to immediately carry out forceful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” his office posted on X at around 6:20 p.m. local time (12:20 p.m. Eastern) on Wednesday. The decision came after Israeli officials said the remains of an Israeli hostage returned Tuesday by Hamas were not those of a person listed in the current cease-fire agreement. According to Netanyahu’s office, the body returned was that of Ofir Tzarfati—whose remains had already been recovered in November 2023 by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), with additional remains retrieved in March 2024. “This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes,” the family of Tzarfati said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Tuesday. The remains of 13 deceased Israeli hostages are still believed to be in Gaza. Hamas has said the process of recovering them has been delayed by the extent of destruction in the territory, while the Hostages and Missing Families Forum accuses the group of deliberately withholding information. “These actions are not mistakes or misunderstandings. They are deliberate acts of cruelty designed to deepen the families’ suffering and prolong Hamas’s control,” the forum said. The Israel Defense Forces, in a statement to TIME, said Hamas had “violated the cease-fire once again, carrying out an attack against IDF forces east of the yellow line, an area under Israeli control.” The IDF described the incident as “another blatant violation of the cease-fire,” adding that Hamas was “pretending not to know where the remaining hostages are.” Earlier Wednesday, Hamas released a statement denying Israel’s accusations and blaming Israeli restrictions for delays in recovery efforts. “The occupation has prevented the entry of the necessary heavy machinery and equipment that would enable the acceleration and completion of the search operations for its soldiers’ bodies in Gaza,” the group said. The cease-fire, which took effect on Oct. 10, has appeared increasingly unstable amid repeated accusations from both sides of violations. Officials from the Trump Administration—including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio—have traveled to Israel in recent weeks to help preserve the deal. During a visit to Israel’s new Civil-Military Command Center in southern Israel, Vance said he remained hopeful about the agreement’s endurance. “It’s not easy. I never said it was easy,” he told reporters on Oct. 17. “But what I am is optimistic that the cease-fire is going to hold and that we can actually build a better future for the entire Middle East. But that’s going to require some work.”