Israel's government spokesperson confirmed that the Israeli military struck targets in Rafah in response to what it said was "anti-tank missile and gunfire" fired towards its troops on Sunday.

The strikes are the first major test of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire meant to halt more than two years of war.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said troops had been operating in the Rafah area "to dismantle terrorist infrastructure" when they came under fire.

"Now, in response, the IDF began striking in the area to eliminate the threat," she added.

Members of the Palestinian group used an RPG and Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery, the military said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held consultations with Israel’s security heads and directed the military to take “strong action” against any ceasefire violations, but did not threaten to return to war.

Hamas said that it was not connected to any clashes in Rafah in southern Gaza.

Bedrosian also said Hamas had not handed over all Israeli hostages — living and dead — within an agreed 72-hour window as part of the ceasefire deal.

The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages and hostage bodies to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.

A Hamas official said on Thursday that the group is facing difficulties in recovering the bodies of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, saying some are underneath rubble that must be cleared with heavy equipment.

Hamas said in a statement that it has fulfilled its commitment to the agreement by handing over all living Israeli prisoners in its custody, as well as the corpses it could access.

On Friday, two bulldozers plowed up pits in the earth as Hamas searched for hostages' remains in Hamad City, a complex of apartment towers in the city of Khan Younis.

Israeli forces repeatedly bombarded the towers during the war, toppling some, and troops conducted a weeklong raid there in March 2024, fighting militants.

Sunday's strikes came as Israel identified the remains of two hostages released by Hamas overnight, and the Palestinian group said talks to launch the second phase of ceasefire negotiations have begun.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the bodies belonged to Ronen Engel, a father of three from Kibbutz Nir Oz, and Sonthaya Oakkharasri, a Thai agricultural worker killed at Kibbutz Be’eri.