Hamas returns more hostages as Trump warns Israel could resume fighting

Jerusalem/Cairo: Israel is preparing to receive the remains of two more hostages from Gaza as US President Donald Trump warned he would consider allowing Israeli forces to resume fighting if Hamas fails to keep to the fragile ceasefire deal.

“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word. If Israel could go in and knock the crap out of them, they’d do that,” Trump told CNN in a brief telephone call when asked what would happen if Hamas refused to disarm.

Drone footage shows the devastation of Gaza City.Credit: AP

In a separate move, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the military to prepare a comprehensive plan to “defeat Hamas” in Gaza if the war is renewed, a statement from his office read

The Israeli military said on Thursday AEDT that the Red Cross had received the remains of two more hostages to be returned, bringing the total to nine bodies returned of the 28 hostages still remaining in Gaza.

As part of the deal, four bodies of hostages were handed over by Hamas on Tuesday, following four on Monday that were returned hours after the last 20 living hostages were released from Gaza. In all, Israel has been awaiting the return of the bodies of 28 hostages.

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On Wednesday, one of the bodies handed over by Hamas a day earlier was found to be not that of a hostage, adding to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.

The Israeli military said forensic testing showed that the fourth body handed back did not match any of the hostages. There was no immediate word on whose body it was.

The remaining hostage bodies may be hard to find or recover because of destruction during the conflict. An international task force is meant to find them.

“The resistance has abided by what was agreed upon and has handed over all the living captives it had, as well as the bodies it was able to retrieve,” Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement.

“As for the remaining bodies, locating and recovering them requires major efforts and special equipment, and we are exerting great effort to close this file.”

In exchange for the release of the hostages, Israel freed about 2000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Monday. The deal also requires Israel to return the bodies of 360 Palestinians.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday it had received 45 more bodies from Israel, bringing the total to 90. A forensics team examining the remains said they showed signs of mistreatment.

A convoy of Red Cross vehicles transports the bodies of deceased Palestinians held by Israel during the war.Credit: AP

The war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with nearly all inhabitants driven from their homes, a global hunger monitor confirming famine and health authorities overwhelmed.

“Our situation is utterly tragic. We went back to our homes in the al-Tuffah neighbourhood and found there are no homes at all. There is no shelter. Nothing,” said Moemen Hassanein in Gaza City, with tents and shanties behind him.

Reuters video showed trucks moving from the Egyptian side of the border into the Rafah crossing with Gaza at dawn on Wednesday, some carrying fuel and others loaded with pallets of aid.

However, it was not clear if that convoy would complete its crossing into Gaza as part of the 600 trucks that were due to enter the enclave on Wednesday – the daily number required under the ceasefire plan. Aid trucks entered Gaza through other crossings.

Aid trucks arrive in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday.Credit: AP

The Rafah crossing with Egypt is due to be open for people to cross on Thursday, with a European Union mission deployed there, two sources said. It was not immediately clear if there would be any restrictions applied to the movement of people.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said it was preparing to operate the crossing.

“Humanitarian aid continues to enter the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and other crossings after Israeli security inspection,” the Israeli security official said.

The United Nations’ top emergency relief co-ordinator, Tom Fletcher, told Reuters the 600 trucks approved to enter the territory were a “good base”, but not enough to meet the scale of need.

“We have 190,000 metric tons of provisions on the borders waiting to go in, and we’re determined to deliver. That’s essential life-saving food and nutrition,” Fletcher said.

Underscoring the political challenges facing the truce, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an opponent of the ceasefire plan, said on X that the aid delivery was a “disgrace”.

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“Nazi terrorism understands only force, and the only way to solve problems with it is to wipe it off the face of the earth,” he added, accusing Hamas of lies and abuse over the return of hostages’ bodies.

Security crackdown

Several other Palestinian factions in Gaza have backed a days-long Hamas security crackdown as it battles local clans.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the groups backing the Hamas crackdown, described the clans being targeted as “hubs of crime”. Hamas has executed several people that it accused of collaborating with Israel.

The US military’s Middle East command called on Hamas to “suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians” and to disarm “without delay”.

Trump, who brokered the ceasefire deal, this week endorsed Hamas’ crackdown on gangs, while warning it would face airstrikes if it did not later disarm.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas condemned the public executions after a video, authenticated by Reuters, showed masked gunmen shooting dead seven men in a Gaza street.

AP, Reuters

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