Israel has said it will increase pressure on Hamas to return the remaining 19 dead hostages in Gaza.
After the militant group insisted that the nine bodies it has returned so far (out of a total of 28) are the only ones it can locate, a senior Israeli official said, “there is a double-digit number of hostages that it can return”.
Hamas has reiterated that the return of the bodies may take time, as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel and others remain under the rubble of buildings, adding that the group remains committed to the ceasefire.
An Al Jazeera video released early on Friday purported to show Hamas operatives searching for the body of deceased hostage Amiram Cooper in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
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Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar accused Hamas of deliberately holding the bodies. “We know they can deliver and they don’t want to deliver, because they want to use it as a bargaining chip, just as they used the hostages throughout the war,” he said.
But despite his comments, Israel has decided not to derail the ceasefire.
All 20 living hostages were released on Monday, in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.
Egypt has reportedly delivered a stern message to Hamas that it must meet its obligations under the ceasefire deal. But it is also urging Israel not to take punitive measures against Hamas, such as limiting humanitarian aid entering the enclave.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, a key architect of the ceasefire deal, said: “We will pursue the return of the bodies of the deceased until they all come home. And I’m confident they will all come home.”
Hamas issued a statement calling on the regional mediators “to complete their role in monitoring the implementation of the remaining clauses of the ceasefire agreement”.
The militant group demanded that mediators and states ensure delivery of aid “in the required quantities”, address the needs of Gaza’s residents, “open the Rafah crossing with Egypt in both directions to civilians” and “accelerate the reconstruction process” – citing priority work on homes, infrastructure, hospitals, schools and public institutions.
The United Nations said aid convoys were struggling to reach famine-hit areas of north Gaza due to war-damaged roads and the continued closure of key routes into the north despite the ceasefire.
About 560 metric tons of food have entered the Gaza Strip each day on average since the ceasefire was declared, but this is still well below what is needed, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Global medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said many relief agencies had not fully returned to the north, where hospitals are barely functioning, leaving many Gaza civilians unable to access regular care.
The World Health Organisation has warned that infectious diseases are “spiralling out of control”, with only 13 of the territory’s 36 hospitals even partially functioning. “Whether meningitis ... diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses, we’re talking about a mammoth amount of work,” warned Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the UN health body.
Israel controls 53 per cent of Gaza territory. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has instructed the army to indicate its “Yellow Line” demarcation with special markings on the ground to clearly highlight where the security separation line runs, according to the ceasefire agreement. The minister’s office stated that the line is also intended to warn Hamas militants and Gaza residents that any violation or attempt to cross the line will be met with fire.
Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and abducted another 251 during the October 7th, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s military response killed nearly 68,000 people in Gaza, according to local authorities.
