Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

US Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the ceasefire in Gaza was holding despite Israeli strikes in Gaza City, and both Israel and Hamas were accusing each other of violations.

"The ceasefire is holding. That doesn't mean that there aren't going to be little skirmishes here and there," Vance told reporters.

"We know that Hamas or somebody else within Gaza attacked an (Israeli military) soldier. We expect the Israelis are going to respond, but I think the President's peace is going to hold despite that."

Gaza’s Civil Defence forces said that at least two have been killed and four injured after Israeli strikes in neighbourhood south of Gaza. 

Gaza's civil defence agency said that Israel launched at least three air strikes on the Palestinian territory, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out fresh attacks.

"The occupation is now bombing Gaza with at least three air strikes despite the ceasefire agreement", Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency told AFP. Witnesses told AFP that they heard the blasts.

Hamas’s armed wing said it was postponing the handover of another hostage body scheduled for Tuesday evening after what it called Israeli "violations" of the US-brokered ceasefire.

Hamas’s announcement came minutes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out intense strikes on the Gaza Strip, accusing the group of violating the truce deal.

"We will postpone the handover that was scheduled for today due to the occupation’s violations," the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement, adding that any Israeli "escalation will hinder the search, excavation, and recovery of the bodies".

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

"Following security consultations, Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed the military to immediately carry out powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip," a statement from his office said.

Hamas’s armed wing said it would hand over the remains of another hostage, which would be the 16th of 28 that Israel has demanded as part of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades "will hand over the body of an Israeli captive that was recently found in one of the tunnel routes in the Gaza Strip at 8:00pm (1800 GMT) Gaza time," the group said on its Telegram channel.

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from a makeshift grave near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Al Jazeera reported, citing Civil Defence director Khalil Abu Alrish.

Alrish said that most of the recovered bodies remain unidentified.

He added that authorities lack the tools needed for DNA analysis and will therefore assign a unique code to each unidentified body before reburial in a designated cemetery.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would consult with the defence establishment over Israel's response to Hamas' ceasefire deal "violations", after the group on Monday handed over the remains of a hostage who, according to Israel, had already been recovered two years ago.

Israeli troops have shot and killed three Palestinian fighters during an operation in the village of Kafr Qud, located near Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported.

The occupied forces also arrested six Palestinians in dawn raids on refugee camps and villages, according Al Jazeera, which cited Wafa news agency.

The detentions occurred following the entry of Israeli forces into homes, which they proceeded to ransack.

The mortal remains returned by Hamas do not match with any of the 13 hostages held in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported citing the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

The Israeli authority said that the identification process of the body has culminated at Forensic Medicine Institute in Tel Aviv and the results suggest that the remains belong to a body already brought for burial in Israel.