Hamas terrorists said they would postpone the planned handover on Tuesday of the body of a missing hostage it had recovered, citing what they said were Israel's violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.
Al-Qassam Brigades also said on the Telegram messaging app that any Israeli escalation of attacks in Gaza would hinder search and recovery operations and delay the return of the bodies of Israeli soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to immediately carry out "powerful strikes" in Gaza earlier Tuesday.
Netanyahu made the announcement shortly after Israel said that Hamas had opened fire at Israeli forces in southern Gaza.
Tensions were already high after Hamas returned a set of remains that Israel said belonged to a body of an Israeli hostage recovered earlier in the war.
Netanyahu called the return a "clear violation" of the ceasefire agreement, which requires Hamas to return all Israeli hostage remains as soon as possible.
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