Yesterday, Israel’s defense minister said that if Hamas doesn’t follow the rules of a US-backed ceasefire that stopped the war in Gaza, they will start fighting again.
The announcement from the office of Defense Minister Israel Katz came after Hamas sent up the bodies of two additional dead hostages. Hamas said it couldn’t get any more bodies out of the rubble of Gaza without special equipment.
Since Monday, the Palestinian Islamist group has returned 20 surviving hostages to Israel in exchange for about 2,000 Palestinian detainees who were released from Israeli prisons. This was made possible by a truce accord reached by US President Donald Trump.
Hamas had already given over the bodies of seven of the 28 known dead captives, plus an eighth body that Israel maintained was not that of a former hostage, when the two bodies were handed over late yesterday.
Katz’s office warned, “If Hamas does not follow the agreement, Israel will start fighting again with the help of the United States. They will work to completely defeat Hamas, change the situation in Gaza, and achieve all the goals of the war.”
Hamas’s military wing indicated that the two bodies that were returned would be the last for now, which is not what the plan called for.
“The Resistance has kept its promise by giving up all living Israeli prisoners in its care and the bodies it could get to,” the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades declared on social media.
“Getting the rest of the bodies back will take a lot of work and special tools.” We are working very hard to finish this file.
But senior US advisors warned yesterday, as Israel threatened to start combat again, that Hamas still plans to keep its promise.
“We keep hearing from them that they plan to keep their end of the deal.” One advisor, who didn’t want to be named, told reporters, “They want to see the deal done in that area.”
Still, any delay in returning the dead is likely to put even more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to link humanitarian help to what happens to the bodies.
Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, has said that he will stop sending much-needed help to Gaza if Hamas doesn’t return the bodies of soldiers who are still being detained there.
Risk to people
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reported that Israel had sent another 45 Palestinian bodies that it had been holding to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. This brought the total number of dead returned to 90.
According to Trump’s plan, Israel will give back 15 dead Palestinians for every dead Israeli hostage.
As the accord was being worked out, Tom Fletcher, the UN’s humanitarian chief, told Israel to open all borders into Gaza right away so that aid could get through.
“It should happen now.” Fletcher informed our reporter in Cairo yesterday, before a planned trip to the Gaza border, that they want it to happen right away as part of this arrangement.
KAN, an Israeli public television, said that the Rafah border point to Egypt would open again, but that didn’t happen. An Israeli spokeswoman did not respond to our request for information.
Fletcher, who is in charge of humanitarian issues and emergency relief at the UN, is likely to go visit the Rafah crossing today.
It is the only way for people in Gaza to get to the rest of the world without going through Israel.
Fletcher added, “The test is that we have tents over people’s heads, that we have anesthetics in the hospitals for people who are getting treatment, and that we feed the children.”
Possible rule-breaking
The civil defense organization in Gaza, which is a rescue force for Hamas, stated that Israeli gunfire killed three Palestinians yesterday, two of whom were trying to get home in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
The Israeli military reported that “several suspects were identified crossing the yellow line and approaching” troops in the northern Gaza Strip. This line is where Israeli forces have pulled back to as part of the ceasefire accord.
The military said this “violates the agreement” and that “troops removed the threat by striking the suspects.”
Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, started a war that caused a humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The densely populated area depended on supplies that was heavily restricted or cut off completely.
The UN said there was a famine in Gaza at the end of August, but Israel disagreed. In Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, he says that supplies will be sent back.
Hamas’s disarmament is another political problem because the terrorist group won’t agree to it.
Hamas is getting stronger in the destroyed cities of Gaza, but Israel and the US say the group can’t be part of the territory’s future administration.
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