Donald Trump has warned the war in Gaza could resume if Hamas doesn’t uphold its end of the ceasefire deal, amid uncertainty over whether the group can return the remaining bodies of Israeli hostages.
Under the agreement announced by the US president last week, all remaining 48 captives, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.
While all 20 living hostages were returned on Monday, only seven of the dead have been returned and verified.
The bodies of two more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas on Wednesday evening, which – if confirmed – would take the total to nine.
Just hours after the latest handover, the Israeli military said a 10th body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.
What have Hamas and Trump said?
Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.
In a statement on Wednesday, its armed wing said it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but specialist equipment would be needed to find the others.
Mr Trump, who claimed earlier this week the ceasefire deal had brought “peace in the Middle East”, told CNN the conflict could restart if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.
“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.
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The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal signed in Egypt on Monday.
Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all the dead.
Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.
Until the truce began, the two-year war had seen nearly 68,000 Palestinians killed – though the figures from Gaza’s health ministry do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken were hostage in Hamas’s initial October 7 attacks in 2003.
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But in another sign of the tension, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.
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Aid trickling in
The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.
The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.
“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.
The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.
Trump threatens Hamas after group suggests no more hostage bodies can be returned
