Netanyahu orders 'powerful' strike in Gaza after Hamas attack in Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening instructed the military to launch strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip after its militants fired at Israeli troops in the southern Rafah area. 

A statement issued by his office said that "at the conclusion of the security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military leadership to carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately."

Hamas said Tuesday evening that the Israeli military was striking targets in Rafah from the air, although Israel has not confirmed such strikes. Arabic media began reporting Israeli strikes throughout Gaza at around 7:50 pm local time. The Hamas-affiliated news agency Shehab reported Israeli strikes and shelling in Deir al-Balah, Gaza City, the vicinity of Al-Shifa hospital and the Al-Shati refugee camp, among other areas. The Palestinian Authority's WAFA News Agency reported that 10 people had been killed as of roughly 9:30 p.m. local time (3:30 p.m. ET) in Gaza City, Khan Younis and the Nuseirat refugee camp. The Hamas-affiliated Safa News Agency reported that the death toll was at least eight from Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis.

Israeli officials said that earlier in the day, Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military force conducting engineering work in the Rafah area, which remains under Israeli control. The Israeli military responded with fire. Following its recent pullback, Israel now controls roughly 53% of the Gaza Strip, but it will seek to expand that area in retaliation for Hamas violations, Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported Tuesday.

Hamas released a statement on Tuesday saying that it had "no connection" to the shooting incident in Rafah, adding that the latest Israeli strikes are "an extension of a series of violations committed over the past days." The group called on mediators of the ceasefire agreement to pressure Israel to end its "brutal escalation."

Offering the first public response from a senior administration official, US Vice President JD Vance appeared to downplay the latest strikes. Leaving a meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, he told reporters that "the ceasefire is holding." Vance added, "There are going to be little skirmishes here and there. We know Hamas attacked an IDF soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond." On Monday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters aboard Air Force One that Israel had “a right” to strike targets in Gaza “if there’s an imminent threat to Israel, and all the mediators agree with that.”

This latest escalation comes as Israel continues to accuse Hamas of breaching its commitment to return the bodies of Israeli hostages as stipulated by the ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration. Thirteen bodies are currently held by Hamas and other groups in Gaza, while 15 deceased hostages have so far been returned to Israel. Hamas had returned 20 living hostages on Oct. 12.

Hamas has said it is having difficulties locating the remains under the rubble and that it needs heavy machinery to uncover the bodies. According to a report by Ynet on Monday, Israel believes that Hamas could locate at least eight bodies, especially those of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier whose body was kidnapped in 2014, and of Assaf Hamami, killed and kidnapped while serving in the Israeli military on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Tensions soared Monday night after Hamas transferred to Israel what it claimed were the remains of a hostage, but after forensic examination, Israel said these were partial remains of Ofir Tzarfati, whose body was retrieved by the Israeli army in a military operation in November 2023. Tzarfati was kidnapped from the Nova music festival and killed around Oct. 7, 2023. 

On Tuesday, the Israeli military published footage recorded by a drone showing Hamas militants bringing out of a building a white bag — the partial remains of Tzarfati — and placing it in a hole they had dug in the ground in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City. The militants then covered the white bag of remains in dirt and proceeded to uncover the planted body in front of the Red Cross.

After publication of the footage, Hamas said it would transfer to Israel on Tuesday night the body of a hostage it recovered in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, but after the skirmish in Rafah, it said it would halt the return due to "violations of the ceasefire agreement by the occupation."

Israel has warned it will not proceed to the second phase of President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war without Hamas returning all the living and deceased hostages. Over the past 10 days, Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire on several occasions, including on Oct. 19, when two Israeli soldiers were killed in the Rafah area by militants who fired anti-tank missiles. Hamas, which has also accused Israel of truce breaches, denied knowledge of its personnel being involved in the fatal attack, a claim supported by Trump.

US envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel last week to compel the Israeli government to adhere to the ceasefire and advance to the second phase, which should see the full withdrawal of Israeli troops, the establishment of a technocrat government and an international stabilization force that would oversee Hamas' disarmament in the enclave. Washington last week set up a military control center in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat to monitor the ceasefire's implementation. 

This is a developing story. Jared Szuba contributed to the reporting from Washington. Adam Lucente contributed from New York.