Israel-Gaza latest: At least 19 dead in ceasefire after attacks

At least 19 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to local health officials.

The dead included four people who were killed in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City and five people killed in a car in Khan Yunis.

Israel attacked Gaza on Tuesday evening after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his forces to attack shortly after Israeli officials condemned Hamas for firing on troops in southern Gaza. Hamas has denied any involvement.

The attacks also come after Hamas handed over additional remains of a hostage expected to be returned in 2023.

At least nine people have been killed in the attacks, including four in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City and five in a car targeted in Khan Yunis.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has condemned Hamas for allegedly dramatizing the recovery of a hostage’s body after Israel released footage it claimed showed Hamas burying the body in the ground before calling in ICRC teams.

The ICRC said it was “not aware that a dead person had been placed there before their arrival, as seen in the footage”.

A statement said: “Our role as neutral arbitrators does not include exhuming the bodies of the deceased. Our team only observed without prior knowledge of the circumstances under which the remains were recovered.

“It is unacceptable that a sham recovery was staged, when so much depends on this agreement remaining intact and when so many families are still anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.”

Hamas has described the allegations as “baseless”.

The death toll has risen to nine, according to local Palestinian health officials.

The dead included four people from the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City and five people traveling in a car targeted in Khan Yunis.

Israel’s attack on Gaza comes a day after Hamas was supposed to hand over a hostage, but instead returned a coffin containing the additional remains of a hostage due in 2023.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement after returning the remains of hostage Ofir Tzarfati, which were recovered and buried in 2023.

Authorities have accused the group of deliberately delaying the handover, but Hamas says bodies are difficult to find amid the debris.

Hamas abducted Mr. Tzarfati at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023, and he later died in captivity.

In a statement, Mr Zarfati’s family said it was the third time “we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son”.

Hamas delayed the handover of another hostage on Tuesday after Israel revealed its plans to attack Gaza.

Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, announced the moratorium, citing Israel’s violations of the ceasefire.

It was reported that the body was recovered from a tunnel on Tuesday.

A white body bag was seen being carried out of a tunnel by several people, including some masked terrorists, in Khan Yunis.

It was not immediately clear what was in the bag, which was later taken away in an ambulance.

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately burying and excavating the body.

At least eight people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, according to local health officials.

Three people were said to be killed in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, and five people traveling in a car that was targeted in Khan Yunis were killed.

Dozens of people are said to have been injured in the airstrikes, which also targeted homes and the courtyard of Shifa Hospital, northern Gaza’s largest operational hospital, as well as other areas of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis.