October 29, 2025

The tension is rising like a storm! Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shocked many by ordering the army to carry out “powerful strikes” in Gaza right away. This move is a huge test for the delicate ceasefire that the U.S. helped to create. The trouble began when Israel said Hamas fired on its forces in southern Gaza. At the same time, Hamas returned some remains of hostages, which Israel said were from a person rescued earlier in this fierce war. Netanyahu slammed this move as a “clear violation” of the ceasefire deal. The deal clearly asks Hamas to return all Israeli hostage remains as soon as possible. Yet, the ceasefire looks very fragile because Israeli troops were shot at again in Rafah city, in the south. According to an Israeli military official who wished to stay anonymous, soldiers responded by firing back. Reports say there are still 13 bodies of hostages held in Gaza. Hamas claims it found one hostage’s body and plans to hand it over in the evening. An Associated Press video from Khan Younis showed men carrying a white body bag from a tunnel into an ambulance, but what’s inside was not clear. This slow return of remains is making the next steps of the ceasefire very difficult. These steps will be even more challenging because they include disarming Hamas, sending in international security forces, and deciding who will rule Gaza. Hamas says it’s hard to find the bodies because of massive destruction in Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas of deliberately delaying the process. Egypt helped by sending experts and heavy machines to find bodies. This search goes on in Khan Younis and Nuseirat. This isn’t the first problem with returning bodies since the ceasefire started on October 10. Earlier, one body given by Hamas was found to be an unidentified Palestinian, not a hostage. A similar confusion happened in February 2025 when a body returned was later identified as a Palestinian woman, not a hostage. One heartbreaking case is Ofir Tzarfati’s remains, confirmed by Netanyahu’s office. Ofir was kidnapped during the brutal Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. He died while held captive, and Israeli forces found his body in November 2023. His family has had to rebury him three times, showing the deep pain of this conflict. Since the ceasefire started, Israel got back 15 dead hostages and returned 195 Palestinian bodies to Gaza. Israel also freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 20 living hostages returned at the start of the ceasefire. In another part of the troubled region, Israel killed three Palestinian militants on Tuesday during a raid in the northern West Bank near the town of Jenin. The Israeli police said the militants stepped out of a cave and were shot. Two died immediately, and the third was killed after being wounded. Israel then struck the cave with an airstrike. Hamas condemned this raid and said two of the men belonged to its Qassam Brigades. They called the third a “comrade” but gave no other details. Israel says this crackdown helps stop militants in the West Bank. But Palestinians and human rights groups say many innocent civilians have died and thousands have been forced from their homes. The Gaza Health Ministry says over 68,500 Palestinians have died in this two-year war, but it does not separate civilians and fighters. Their records are seen as reliable by U.N. agencies and experts, though Israel disagrees and has not shared its own numbers. This conflict remains a powder keg ready to explode. Will peace take root or will the fighting grow more fierce? The world waits anxiously.

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Tags: Israel, Hamas, Ceasefire, Hostages, West bank, Netanyahu,