Israeli airstrike kills five in southern Gaza, civil defense says Magic Post

Gaza’s civil defense agency said an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the south of the territory killed five people on Tuesday.

“At least five (were killed) in an Israeli strike on a civilian vehicle on Al-Qassam Street in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency, which functions as a relief force under Hamas, told AFP.

The agency earlier reported that two people were killed in another Israeli strike in Gaza City, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a new wave of attacks against Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ordered the army to carry out intense strikes on the Gaza Strip, after accusing Hamas of violating the US-brokered ceasefire.

“Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the army to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip,” said a statement from his office.

The development came after the Israeli military accused Hamas of organizing its search for the remains of a Gaza captive’s body, one of 28 bodies the group agreed to hand over as part of a ceasefire deal.

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“Yesterday (Monday), Hamas operatives were documented removing the remains of bodies from a structure that had been prepared in advance and burying them nearby,” the army said in a statement, attaching drone footage it said showed the act.

Aerial footage shows three individuals emerging from a damaged building in Gaza, holding what may be a body wrapped in a white sheet. The individuals then buried the body a few moments before a bulldozer parked nearby discovered it again.

“The terrorist organization Hamas summoned representatives of the Red Cross and organized a false demonstration of discovering the body of a deceased hostage,” the military statement said.

Three people wearing red vests appear in the video, which AFP could not independently verify this. The army did not specify the location of the footage, which was filmed on Monday.

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“These images clearly show that the terrorist organization Hamas is attempting to create a false impression of efforts to locate the bodies, when in fact it is holding deceased hostages whose remains it refuses to release as required by the agreement,” the statement said.

The statement comes as Israel accuses Hamas of violating the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire.

Hamas handed over what it said was the body of a 16th captive on Monday, but an Israeli forensic examination determined that Hamas had in fact handed over the partial remains of Ofir Tzarfati – whose body had already been brought back to Israel about two years ago, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

“I can confirm to you today that Hamas dug a hole in the ground yesterday, placed Ofir’s partial remains there, covered it with earth and handed it over to the Red Cross,” government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian told reporters on Tuesday.

Hamas says it is committed to the terms of the ceasefire, but does not have the necessary equipment to locate and excavate the bodies of captives, potentially buried under buildings collapsed by airstrikes.

In a statement released Tuesday, the army said the equipment requested by Hamas was “clearly useless for the transfer of remains, and that these assertions therefore do not constitute an obstacle to the return of the deceased hostages.”

Hamas said it was Israel that prevented it from carrying out its search for bodies and accused it of fabricating “false pretexts to take further aggressive measures against our people.”