Gaza truce strain: Israel says latest bodies from Hamas are not hostages; strikes reported
Jerusalem: Israel on Saturday confirmed that three bodies it received from Gaza the previous night were not hostages held in the Palestinian territory, even as Hamas reported fresh Israeli strikes in southern Gaza.
A fragile truce has been in place since October 10 under a US-brokered deal aimed at securing the return of all Israeli hostages, both alive and deceased. According to Israel’s military, forensic tests showed that the three bodies handed over via the Red Cross were not among those listed as captives still to be repatriated under the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it had turned over bodies it could not positively identify, claiming that Israel refused its offer to provide samples for verification. “We handed them over to preempt any enemy claims,” the group said.
Since the truce began, Hamas has returned all 20 surviving hostages and has gradually transferred the remains of others. Of the 17 bodies handed back, 15 were Israeli, one Thai and one Nepalese. The group also returned one unidentified body and partial remains of another hostage, which drew outrage in Israel for allegedly breaching the agreement.
Israel has accused Hamas of delaying the return of bodies, but the Palestinian group says the process is slow due to the widespread destruction in Gaza. The Al-Qassam Brigades called on mediators and the Red Cross to provide equipment and personnel to recover all remains simultaneously.
Meanwhile, both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire. A Hamas source reported Israeli air strikes and naval gunfire near Khan Yunis early Saturday. Earlier in the week, Israel carried out its heaviest bombardment since the truce after one of its soldiers was killed in south Gaza, leaving over 100 civilians dead, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Gazans returning to devastated neighbourhoods described ongoing hardship. Hisham al-Bardai of Jabalia camp said gunfire continued overnight and that the “policy of starvation” persisted under Israel’s blockade, though some restrictions have eased.
Implementation of later stages of President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan remains uncertain, especially over Hamas’s disarmament, a transitional authority, and the deployment of an international stabilisation force drawn mainly from Arab and Muslim nations with UN approval.
At a conference in Bahrain, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul urged that any stabilisation mission must have a UN Security Council mandate to ensure legitimacy and international participation.
Many residents remain displaced in Gaza. Sumaya Daloul, 27, living in a tent with her family in Gaza City, told AFP that she feared years of suffering ahead, adding, “There’s no hope for life to return, even partially.”
With inputs from AFP