<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Gaza's fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Sunday as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and the official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume Monday. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorised to discuss the issue with the media.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-museum-robbery-musee-du-louvre-closed-for-exceptional-reasons/aabe4c60-19e9-41da-930d-9763d1c095b4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Shaky phone vision emerges of high-stakes four-minute Louvre heist</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A little over a week has passed since the start of the US-proposed ceasefire aimed at ending two years of war. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There was no immediate US comment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Health officials said at least 36 Palestinians were killed across Gaza, including children.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/renewed-fighting-tests-gaza-ceasefire-and-israel-briefly-halts-aid-world-news/f963b5d6-550c-4d5b-ad88-9d85e46d6a1f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel's military said it struck dozens of Hamas targets after its troops came under fire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A senior Egyptian official involved in the ceasefire negotiations said "round-the-clock" contacts were underway to de-escalate the situation. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to reporters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the military to take "strong action" against any ceasefire violations but didn't threaten to return to war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel's military said militants had fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to agreed-upon ceasefire lines.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and "we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Strikes in Gaza</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Palestinians feared war would return to the famine-stricken territory where Israel cut off aid for over two months earlier this year after ending the previous ceasefire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It will be a nightmare," said Mahmoud Hashim, a father of five from Gaza City, who appealed to US President Donald Trump and other mediators to act.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Al-Awda hospital said it received 24 bodies from several Israeli strikes in the Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ringwood-carjackings-victoria-police-foil-two-attempted-incidents/cac30f32-f1c0-4f12-b8f3-aed2d4b40168" target="_blank"><strong><span>Food delivery driver ambushed by machete-wielding carjackers</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An airstrike on a makeshift coffeehouse in Zawaida town in central Gaza killed at least six Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A strike in Beit Lahiya in the north killed two men, according to Shifa hospital.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Another strike hit a tent in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis in the south, killing at least four people, including a woman and two children, according to Nasser Hospital.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Where is peace?" said Khadijeh abu-Nofal in Khan Younis, as hospital workers treated wounded children. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She accompanied a young woman hurt by shrapnel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>More bodies of hostages identified</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight: Ronen Engel, a father from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker from Kibbutz Be'eri.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Both were believed to have been killed during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Engel's wife, Karina, and two of his three children were kidnapped and released in a November 2023 ceasefire.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/suspected-space-junk-crash-lands-on-wa-mine-site/d44e81a0-46ea-4ede-9d7a-cad4ddfd1e27" target="_blank"><strong><span>Mysterious flaming 'space junk' crashes into remote WA</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas in the past week has handed over the remains of 12 hostages.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it found the body of another hostage and would return it Sunday "if circumstances in the field" allowed. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It warned that any escalation by Israel would hamper search efforts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel on Saturday pressed Hamas to fulfill its ceasefire role of returning the remains of all 28 deceased hostages, saying the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would stay closed "until further notice." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was the only crossing not controlled by Israel before the war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas says the war's devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas have slowed the handover. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel believes Hamas has access to more bodies than it has returned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel has released 150 bodies of Palestinians back to Gaza, including 15 on Sunday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/health/australia-flu-vaccination-health/767ffef9-0b03-44e7-9d31-68d29b6c2b62"><strong><span>Doctors sound the alarm as flu rates spike, vaccination rates drop</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel has neither identified the bodies nor said how they died. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ministry posts photos of bodies on its website to help families attempting to locate loved ones. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Some are decomposed and blackened. Some are missing limbs and teeth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Only 25 bodies have been identified, the Health Ministry said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel and Hamas earlier exchanged 20 living hostages for more than 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Ceasefire's second phase</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya arrived in Cairo to follow up the implementation of the ceasefire deal with mediators and other Palestinian groups.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The next stages are expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US plan proposes the establishment of an internationally backed authority.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassem said late Saturday that the group has begun discussions to "solidify its positions." </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He reiterated that Hamas won't be part of the ruling authority in a postwar Gaza, and called for the prompt establishment of a body of Palestinian technocrats to run day-to-day affairs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For now, "government agencies in Gaza continue to perform their duties, as the (power) vacuum is very dangerous," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hamas-led militants killed around 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack that sparked the war.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the </span></em></strong><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple App Store</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span> and </span></em></strong><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>.</span></em></strong></div></div>