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Hamas has repeatedly said efforts to retrieve remains face challenges because of the massive destruction visited upon Gaza by Israel's two-year military campaign. An Egyptian team with equipment including an excavator and bulldozers entered Gaza on Saturday as part of mediators' efforts to shore up the ceasefire, two Egyptian officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the military's actions after Israeli forces struck the central Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza late Saturday, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which received the wounded. The military claimed it targeted militants associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group who were planning to attack troops. Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, denied the allegation. Hamas called the strike a “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement and accused Netanyahu of attempting to sabotage US efforts to end the war. Read moreAs Israeli forces withdraw after ceasefire, Hamas tightens its grip on the streets of Gaza “Of course, we also thwart dangers as they are being formed, before they are carried out, as we did just yesterday in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday. Israel also targeted Nuseirat on October 19, after the military accused Hamas militants of killing two soldiers. Hamas denied being responsible for their deaths. Israel that day launched dozens of strikes across Gaza, killing at least 36 Palestinians, including women and children, according to local health authorities. It was the most serious challenge to the ceasefire. (FRANCE 24 with AP and Reuters)
