Israel said it had carried out airstrikes on Hamas militants in southern Gaza in retaliation for an attack earlier in the day that injured five Israeli soldiers.
The attack was the latest test of a fragile ceasefire that has largely held since early October, despite claims of violations by both Israel and Hamas. Hamas issued a statement condemning the attack in Khan Yunis.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel announced it would receive the body of what is believed to be one of the last hostages in the Gaza Strip and begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn region across the border with Egypt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas violated the ceasefire on Wednesday when it emerged from underground tunnels and attacked Israeli soldiers in areas it controlled, according to the military.
Israel had accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire before launching previous airstrikes. According to local health authorities, strikes killed 104 people in late October and 33 in late November.
The bodies found by militants in northern Gaza will be returned to Israel and examined by forensic experts. The remains of the militants handed over on Tuesday did not match either of the last two hostages captured in Gaza.
The return of all hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 attack that started the war is a key element of the first phase of the ceasefire that began in October. In return, Israel has released Palestinian prisoners.
Under the terms of the ceasefire, the long-closed Rafah crossing will be opened for medical evacuations and movement to and from Gaza. The World Health Organization said more than 16,500 injured people needed to leave Gaza for treatment.
However, it was not immediately clear when border crossings would open.
Egypt wants Palestinians to be able to return to Gaza through the crossing and says it will only open it if movement in both directions is allowed. Israel says Palestinians will not be allowed to cross the border back to Gaza until the remains of the last hostage are returned from Gaza.
Once the body of the last hostage is returned and Israel releases more Palestinian prisoners in exchange, the U.S.-backed ceasefire plan will move to the next stage, which calls for the creation of an international stabilization force, a technocratic Palestinian government and the disarmament of Hamas.
The last hostages in Gaza are Israelis and Thais.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said forensic tests showed that some of the bodies returned by the militants on Tuesday did not match any of the hostages still remaining in Gaza. Later, Palestinian militants said they had found more remains in northern Gaza and handed them over to the Red Cross, which was acting as an intermediary.
The two bodies still held hostage in Gaza are Ran Gviri, an Israeli, and Sudisak Rintarak, a Thai. Gviri was an Israeli police officer who helped people escape from the Nova music festival during the October 7 attack and was killed elsewhere. Sudisak Rintalak is an agricultural worker from Thailand who worked in Kibbutz Beiri, one of the communities hardest hit by the attack.
A total of 31 workers from Thailand were abducted, making it the largest group of foreigners detained. Most of them were released during the first and second ceasefires. Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that in addition to the hostages, 46 Thai nationals were killed during the war.
Rafah crossing opening complicated by conflict
COGAT, the Israeli military agency tasked with facilitating aid to Gaza, said Israel would coordinate with Egypt on the withdrawal of Palestinians under the supervision of a European Union mission.
Anyone wishing to leave Gaza will need “Israeli security approval,” COGAT said.
In a document on X, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs cited the crossing as a measure to help “the most vulnerable Gazans” receive better medical care.
Israeli government spokesman Shosh Bedrossian said Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza could travel through Rafah if Egypt agreed to let them in. However, she said the border would not be open to Palestinians seeking to return to Gaza until all hostages in the Gaza Strip were returned to Israel.
Egypt’s National Intelligence Service, citing anonymous Egyptian officials, said that if a deal is reached, the intersection would be opened for two-way traffic, in accordance with a ceasefire plan advanced by US President Donald Trump.
Egypt fears that Palestinians allowed to leave Gaza may not be able to return.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has warned that Israel could permanently expel people and encourage their exodus from Gaza as a means to “eliminate the Palestinian cause” for statehood. More than 100,000 Palestinians who left Gaza after the civil war broke out, including some injured in the conflict, live in Egypt, according to Egyptian authorities.
The Rafah crossing was closed in May 2024 when Israeli forces invaded the area. It was temporarily opened in February this year as part of an earlier ceasefire for the evacuation of sick and injured Palestinians.
One Palestinian killed, several Israelis injured in fighting in Gaza
The Israeli military announced that four Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, in an attack by militants emerging from an underground tunnel in the southern city of Rafah. The military called the attack in areas under its control a ceasefire violation and said it responded.
A Palestinian man was killed in Israeli shelling in Gaza City, the hospital said, marking the latest reported death of a Palestinian in the area.
Israeli forces shot and killed a 46-year-old man in the Zeitoun area, according to Al Ahly Hospital, which received the body. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment.
The hospital said the man was shot inside a “safe zone” outside of Israeli military control under the terms of the ceasefire. The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that more than 360 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 11.
Return of Palestinian bodies in flux
Since the ceasefire began in early October, 20 living hostages and the bodies of 26 others have been returned to Israel.
As part of the cease-fire agreement, Israel has released 15 Palestinian bodies, one for each hostage. The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that the total number of remains received so far is 330. Gaza health officials said they had only been able to identify some of the bodies handed over from Israel, and a lack of DNA testing kits was complicating the process.
The exchange went ahead despite Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating other terms of the agreement. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of handing over body parts in some cases and staging the discovery of bodies in others.
Hamas has accused Israel of firing on civilians and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into its territory.
The cease-fire is aimed at ending the war sparked by a Hamas-led offensive in southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the total number of Palestinian deaths from the war was more than 70,100. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians, but says about half of those killed were women and children. The ministry operates under a Hamas-run government. The organization is staffed by medical experts and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by the international community.
