The Red Cross has received two bodies in Gaza that Hamas claims are hostages, according to the Israeli military. These remains are set to be returned to Israel for formal identification, following Hamas’s statement that they were recovered on Saturday.
This brings the total number of deceased hostages repatriated to Israel to 12, with 16 more individuals whose remains are yet to be returned. The prolonged delay has ignited public anger in Israel, especially since the ceasefire agreement stipulated the release of all hostages, both living and deceased. Hamas has attributed the hold-up to difficulties in locating the remaining bodies amidst the rubble in Gaza.
In response to the situation, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt to remain closed indefinitely. The reopening will reportedly be contingent on the final return of hostage remains and the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have emphasized that Hamas must adhere to the agreement and take the necessary steps to return all hostages. However, the US has downplayed concerns that the delay constitutes a breach of the ceasefire deal, which President Donald Trump had previously lauded during his visit to Israel and Egypt.
While the official text of the deal has not been made public, a leaked version suggested that it might account for situations where not all bodies are immediately accessible. Hamas has also pointed fingers at Israel, stating that airstrikes have destroyed numerous buildings, making recovery efforts challenging, and that Israel has restricted the entry of heavy machinery required for these operations.
Tom Fletcher, UN humanitarian chief, described Gaza as a “wasteland” to BBC News, where residents are sifting through rubble for bodies and searching for remnants of their homes, many of which have been destroyed.
As part of the US-brokered ceasefire, Hamas had previously returned 20 living hostages to Israel. On Friday, the IDF confirmed the identity of the tenth deceased hostage returned by Hamas as Eliyahu Margalit, who was killed at Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023.
Additionally, 250 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza were released by Israel under the same agreement. Separately, on Saturday, 11 members of a Palestinian family were reportedly killed by an Israeli tank shell in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run civil defense ministry, marking the deadliest single incident involving Israeli soldiers in Gaza since the ceasefire began.
The Israeli military stated that its soldiers fired at a “suspicious vehicle” near the demarcation line of Israeli forces in Gaza. However, the absence of physical markers for this line has raised questions about whether the vehicle crossed it, a point the BBC is seeking clarification on from the IDF.
The Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza was initiated following the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths in southern Israel and the abduction of 251 hostages. The Hamas-run health ministry reports that at least 68,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since the conflict began, figures corroborated by the UN.
Furthermore, a UN commission of inquiry in September stated that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a claim Israel has vehemently denied, labelling the report as “distorted and false.”