2 killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, Hamas postpones hostage body handover

Two people were killed and four others, including a child and an infant, were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Gaza City on Tuesday evening, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.



Palestinian security and eyewitness sources said Israeli warplanes targeted several sites in and around Gaza City, while Israeli artillery shelling hit the outskirts of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, and eastern Khan Younis in the south.



Earlier Tuesday evening, Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said that it had postponed the handover of the body of an Israeli hostage, accusing Israel of committing "violations" of the ceasefire agreement.



Hamas said in a press statement that it had postponed the delivery that was scheduled for late Tuesday, warning that any Israeli escalation would "hinder ongoing search and excavation operations to retrieve bodies."



The group said it had discovered the body earlier in the day during search operations inside a tunnel in southern Gaza.