Two more hostage bodies released as US warns Hamas planning attack on Palestinians

Cairo: Israel says Hamas has handed over two more coffins of deceased hostages from Gaza, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increased pressure on the militant group to share the rest more quickly under their ceasefire.

No names were immediately released. The bodies were in Israel and were being taken to the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Israel announced earlier on Saturday, local time, that Gaza’s sole crossing with the outside world, Rafah, would stay closed “until further notice”, tying it to Hamas’ release of remains. On Thursday, it had said the crossing likely would reopen on Sunday.

Palestinians watch members of Hamas searching for bodies of hostages in Khan Younis.Credit: AP

The latest handover came as the US State Department on Sunday said it had credible reports of an imminent planned attack by Hamas against residents of Gaza.

“This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement and undermine the significant progress achieved through mediation efforts,” it said in a statement. “The guarantors demand Hamas uphold its obligations under the ceasefire terms.

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“Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire” forged by Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, it added. There were no additional details.

Hamas has now handed over the remains of 12 of the 28 dead hostages in Gaza, a key step in the week-old ceasefire process meant to end two years of war. The militant group says devastation and Israeli military control of certain areas of Gaza have slowed the handover.

The statement by Netanyahu’s office on the Rafah crossing came shortly after the Palestinian embassy in Egypt said it would reopen on Monday for people returning to Gaza. Hamas called Netanyahu’s decision a violation of the ceasefire deal.

The Rafah crossing has been closed since May 2024, when Israel took control of the Gaza side. A fully reopened crossing would make it easier for Gazans to seek medical treatment, travel or visit family in Egypt, home to tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Anxiety on both sides over remains

Israel has been returning the bodies of Palestinians with no names, only numbers. Gaza’s Health Ministry posts photos of them online, hoping families will come forward.

People attend a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv as families and friends of deceased hostages whose bodies remain in Gaza continue lobbying for their return.Credit: Getty Images

“Just like they took their captives, we want our captives. Bring me my son, bring all our kids back,” said a tearful Iman Sakani, whose son went missing during the war. She was among dozens of anxious families waiting at Nasser hospital.

One woman knelt, crying over a body after identifying it.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, Israel on Saturday returned 15 bodies of Palestinians to Gaza, bringing the total it has returned to 135.

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Meanwhile, Gaza’s ruins were being scoured for the dead. Newly recovered bodies brought the Palestinian toll above 68,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Thousands of people are still missing, according to the Red Cross.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. But the ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Hamas-led militants killed around 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the attack on southern Israel that sparked the war on October 7, 2023.

A push for hostages’ remains

Israel also said the remains of a 10th hostage that Hamas handed over on Friday were identified as Eliyahu Margalit. The 76-year-old was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7 attack. His remains were found after bulldozers ploughed areas in the southern city of Khan Younis.

US President Donald Trump has warned that he would greenlight a resumption of the war by Israel if Hamas doesn’t return the remains of all dead hostages.

Hamas has said it is committed to the ceasefire deal, but that the retrieval of remains is also hampered by the presence of unexploded ordnance in the territory’s vast ruins.

The Israeli organisation supporting families of those abducted said it would continue holding weekly rallies in Tel Aviv until all were returned.

The bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire after crossing the ceasefire line, according to the Hamas-run Civil Defence, are brought to Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.Credit: AP

“We don’t want to go back to fighting, God forbid, but this whole ordeal must end, and all the hostages must be returned,” said Ifat Calderon, aunt of freed hostage Ofer Calderon.

Aid remains limited

Hamas has urged mediators to increase the flow of aid into Gaza as closures of crossings and Israeli restrictions on aid groups continue.

“Vast parts of the city are just a wasteland,” UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said on Saturday while visiting Gaza City, where international food security experts declared famine earlier this year.

UN data on Friday showed 339 trucks have been offloaded for distribution in Gaza since the ceasefire began. Under the agreement, about 600 aid trucks per day should be allowed to enter.

COGAT, the Israeli defence body overseeing aid in Gaza, reported 950 trucks – including commercial trucks and bilateral deliveries – crossing on Thursday and 716 on Wednesday, the UN said.

Israel has said it let in enough food and accused Hamas of stealing much of it, which the UN and other aid agencies deny.

Hamas accuses Israel of violations

Hamas again accused Israel of continuing attacks and violating the ceasefire, asserting that 38 Palestinians had been killed since it began. There was no immediate response from Israel, which still maintains control of about half of Gaza.

On Friday, Gaza’s Civil Defence, first responders operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, said nine people were killed, including women and children, when their vehicle was hit by Israeli fire in Gaza City. The Civil Defence said the car crossed into an Israeli-controlled area in eastern Gaza.

Israel’s army said it saw a “suspicious vehicle” crossing the so-called yellow line and approaching troops. It said it fired warning shots, but the vehicle continued to approach in a manner that posed an “imminent threat”. The army said it acted in accordance with the ceasefire.

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