Remains of American Israeli hostage among 3 bodies returned by Hamas, IDF says

Two explosions were heard coming from the eastern areas of Deir al Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip in the past hour. ABC News does not know the source of these explosions at this time.

There has been no official word from either party -- Israel or Hamas -- on any action on the ground in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that strikes would resume on Gaza earlier on Tuesday.

Israel decided to carry out strikes in Gaza because of an attack on Israel Defense Forces troops in the IDF-controlled area of Gaza, east of the yellow line, on Tuesday, and for "violating the agreement," to return the remains of all the dead hostages still being held in Gaza, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

"The attack on IDF soldiers in Gaza today by the Hamas terrorist organization is crossing a bright red line to which the IDF will respond with great force," Katz said in the statement, originally in Hebrew.

"Hamas will pay with compound interest for attacking the soldiers and violating the agreement to return the fallen hostages," he added.

As a part of the ceasefire deal, the IDF withdrew to an established yellow line in Gaza. IDF troops control parts of Gaza east of the yellow line -- at these borders, the IDF still controls more than 50% of Gaza.

Hamas attacked IDF troops in this area of Gaza on Tuesday, violating of the ceasefire agreement, two Israeli officials told ABC News.

Israeli authorities were also particularly aggravated after the remains returned by Hamas via the Red Cross on Monday night were identified as a hostage whose remains had previously been found in Gaza by IDF troops, one Israeli military official said.

The military official said one of the IDF’s surveillance cameras captured footage they say shows Hamas staging the discovery of a body in Gaza in front of the Red Cross on Monday.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller

Hamas said it will delay the planned handover of a hostage body to Israel because of Israel’s "violations" of the ceasefire.

Hamas previously said it would hand over the remains of a hostage to Israeli authorities at 8 p.m. local time.

-ABC News' Sami Zyara

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Israeli military to "carry out powerful strikes in Gaza," a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement accusing Hamas of a "clear violation" of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, after Israeli authorities identified hostage remains returned on Monday as belonging to a deceased hostage previously recovered from the strip in 2023.

The returns received by Israeli authorities on Monday belonged to Ofir Tzarfati, according to the statement published by the prime minister's official X account on Tuesday. Tzarfati was wounded and abducted during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Tzarfati died in captivity and his body was recovered from Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces in late 2023.

"This is a clear violation of the agreement by the terrorist organization Hamas," Netanyahu's office said.

The prime minister "will hold a security discussion with the heads of the defense establishment, in which they will discuss Israel's steps in the face of the violations," it added.

Tzarfati's family released a statement confirming his remains were returned on Monday. The statement accused Hamas of "an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Othon Leyva